Donald Trump is not legally immune for acts committed during his presidency. That is the unanimous decision of the three judges of the Court of Appeals before which the former president had appealed a decision in the same sense by Judge Tanya Chutkan, in charge of the Washington case for Trump's attempts to alter the results of the elections in 2020, which he lost against Joe Biden. The former president, who is accused in that case of four crimes, can still appeal to the full Court of Appeals and, later, to the Supreme Court, which would have the final say.
“For purposes of this criminal case, former President Trump has become Citizen Trump, with all the defenses of any other criminal defendant. But any executive immunity that could have protected him while he served as president no longer protects him against this accusation,” says the ruling of the three judges.
At the hearing before the Court of Appeals, which Trump voluntarily attended, his lawyer even defended that, unless Congress itself condemned him, the president should enjoy immunity from court for all types of crimes committed during his term. of his position. Even if he ordered a special command to assassinate a political rival.
There is relative legal consensus on the immunity of sitting presidents, but Trump raised the immunity of former presidents for actions related to the exercise of their office, unless they have first been subjected to impeachment. (impeachment) and condemned. Trump was acquitted by the Senate of inciting the insurrection on January 6, 2021 and his lawyers believe that he is being charged twice for the same events. Until Trump, a former president had never been indicted, so there is no precedent in this regard.
Although the former president's appeal has been rejected, his lawyers have so far managed to gain time. Judge Chutkan has indefinitely postponed the trial, which was scheduled for March 4. It was the first date on which the former president was going to sit in the dock in a criminal case of the four in which he is accused of a total of 91 crimes.
Judge Chutkan already refused in the first instance to file the case due to immunity in a harsh ruling in which she said that being president “does not confer a lifetime pass to get out of jail.” Trump's lawyers appealed to the Washington Court of Appeals, which is now rejecting his appeal. Normally, an appeal does not paralyze the processing of a case, but in this case it did, because what is at stake is the very essence of whether or not the former president can be accused and tried.
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Special prosecutor Jack Smith asked the Supreme Court to take action on the matter to buy time, but the justices preferred that the case continue its processing. Trump can still go to the full Court of Appeals and if he loses, appeal to the Supreme Court, which will likely accept the case and will have to set a date for the oral hearing. All of this delays the process.
Chutkan had set the date for the start of the trial on March 4, 2024, the eve of Super Tuesday, the day when most delegates are elected in the primary elections for the presidency. In the charge sheet for this case, which was Trump's third indictment, the prosecutor accuses him of four crimes: conspiracy to defraud the US Government, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction or attempted obstruction of an official proceeding, and conspiracy. to violate civil rights. Trump maintains that the elections were stolen from him, but the prosecutor does not accuse him of this great baseless hoax, but rather of his actions to alter the result and prevent the certification of Joe Biden's victory.
Trump is trying to delay his criminal cases while the prosecutor wants to seat him in front of a jury before the November elections. If Trump is elected while the case is pending, he could order the Justice Department to drop it or try to grant himself a pardon.
The delay in Washington's trial leaves the trail clear for his first indictment, for commercial falsehoods in payments to hide scandals in the 2016 presidential campaign (one of them to porn actress Stormy Daniels, to silence an alleged extramarital affair).
This is initially scheduled before a New York State court, for five weeks starting on March 25, 2024. Chutkan had spoken to the New York judge to warn him that it might need to be postponed if the Washington trial began, but that This is no longer the case. Trump must return to that New York court on February 15 for a preliminary hearing in which the final details are expected to be finalized. Everything indicates that the case will begin on time. Trump's lawyers and prosecutors have been discussing jury selection procedures with the judge and some witnesses have been told to be ready to testify.
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