Former President Donald Trump’s effort to dismiss the 2020 election interference case against him on the grounds that he is protected under presidential immunity failed on Friday after a federal judge rejected his motion.
“The Court cannot conclude that our Constitution blankets former Presidents with absolute immunity for any federal crimes they commit while in office,” US District Judge Tanya Chutkan wrote in her 48-page decision.
“Whatever immunity a sitting President enjoys, the United States has only one Chief Executive at a time, and that position does not provide a ‘get out of jail free’ pass for life,” he argued. “Former Presidents do not enjoy special conditions on their federal criminal liability.”
Trump’s legal team is expected to appeal the Chutkan decision and litigation over the issue of presidential powers could eventually reach the US Supreme Court.
The former president’s lawyer also asked for the government’s case to be dismissed on free speech grounds, arguing that Trump is within his First Amendment right to challenge the results of the 2020 election and alleging widespread fraud.
US District Judge Tanya Chutkan’s decision was a sharp rejection of the Trump defense team’s challenge to Trump’s multi-pronged effort to overturn the election won by Joe Biden. AP
Chutkan on Friday rejected that argument as well.
“It is well established that the First Amendment does not protect speech used as an instrument of a crime, and consequently the Indictment — which alleges the Defendant, among other things, made statements in furtherance of a crime — does not violate the First Defendant. Amendment rights,” he wrote.
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“The defendant was not charged merely for making a false statement … but for knowingly making a false statement in furtherance of a criminal conspiracy and obstructing the election process,” added Chutkan.
The judge also rejected Trump’s argument that he can only be impeached if he is convicted by the Senate during impeachment proceedings, ruling that argument only applies to sitting presidents.
Chutkan’s decision came the same day a three-judge panel of the US Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit denied Trump’s request to dismiss a lawsuit brought by Capitol Police officers and Democratic lawmakers over the January 6, 2021, Capitol riots.
The suit accuses the 77-year-old former president of inciting violent mobs of his supporters to storm the Capitol as election results were being certified.
However, the decision did not consider whether presidential immunity ultimately shields former presidents from liability, with the judge expressing “no view on the ultimate merits of the claims” against Trump.
The 2024 Republican presidential front-runner was indicted on a four-count indictment in August alleging that 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: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
