Former President Donald Trump’s attempt to dismiss the 2020 election interference case against him on the grounds that he was protected by presidential immunity failed Friday after a federal judge denied his motion.
“The court cannot conclude that our Constitution grants former presidents absolute immunity for any federal crimes they committed while in office,” U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan wrote in her 48-page ruling.
“Whatever immunities a sitting president may enjoy, the United States only has one chief executive at a time, and that position does not confer a lifetime pass to get out of jail free,” he argued. “Former presidents do not enjoy special conditions in their federal criminal responsibility.”
Trump’s legal team is expected to appeal Chutkan’s ruling and litigation over the question of presidential power could eventually reach the US Supreme Court.
The former president’s lawyers also sought to have the government’s case dismissed on free speech grounds, arguing that Trump was within his First Amendment rights to challenge the results of the 2020 election and allege widespread fraud.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan’s decision amounts to a strong rejection of Trump’s defense team’s challenges to Trump’s multiple efforts to undo the election won by Joe Biden. AP
Chutkan on Friday also rejected that argument.
“It is well established that the First Amendment does not protect speech that is used as an instrument of a crime and, consequently, the Indictment – which accuses the defendant, among other things, of making statements in support of a crime – does not violate the First Defendant’s Amendment. Amendment rights,” he wrote.
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“The defendant is not being prosecuted simply for making false statements… but rather for knowingly making false statements in furtherance of a criminal conspiracy and obstructing the electoral process,” Chutkan added.
The judge also rejected Trump’s argument that he can only be impeached if he was convicted by the Senate during the impeachment process, ruling that the argument only applies to a sitting president.
Chutkan’s ruling comes the same day a three-judge panel of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals denied Trump’s request to dismiss lawsuits brought by Capitol Police officers and Democratic lawmakers over the Sept. 6 riot. January 2021 at the Capitol.
The lawsuits accuse the 77-year-old former president of inciting a violent mob of his supporters to storm the Capitol while the election results were being certified.
However, the ruling did not consider whether presidential immunity ultimately protects the former president from liability, and the justices expressed “no opinion on the ultimate merits of the claims” against Trump.
The 2024 Republican presidential primary front-runner was indicted on four counts in August over allegations he tried to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
Trump has pleaded not guilty in the case, whose trial is expected to begin on March 4, 2024 in Washington, DC.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn