Federal Court of Appeals rejects Trump's claim of absolute immunity

A federal appeals court on Tuesday rejected former President Donald J. Trump's claim that he was immune from charges of conspiring to undermine the 2020 election results, ruling that he must stand trial on a criminal complaint alleging he is accused of trying to undo his loss. to President Biden.

The 3-0 ruling by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit handed Mr. Trump a significant defeat, but would likely not be the final word on his claims for executive immunity. Trump is expected to continue his appeal to the Supreme Court – possibly with an interim request to the full appeals court.

Still, the panel's 57-page ruling marked an important moment in American jurisprudence, answering a question never before answered by an appeals court: Can former presidents escape the criminal justice system's responsibility for things they did during their have served in office?

The question is new because no former president had been indicted before Mr. Trump, so there was never a chance for a defendant to make — and for courts to consider — the sweeping claim of executive immunity that he has put forward.

The panel, composed of two Democratic-appointed judges and one Republican-appointed judge, said in its decision that Trump, despite the privileges of the office he once held, was subject to federal criminal law like every other American.

“For the purposes of this criminal case, former President Trump has become citizen Trump, with all the defenses of any other criminal defendant,” the panel wrote. “But any executive branch immunity that may have protected him while he was president no longer protects him from this prosecution.”

The panel's ruling came nearly a month after it heard arguments on the immunity issue from Mr. Trump's legal team and from prosecutors working for the special counsel, Jack Smith. While the decision was swift by the standards of a normal appeal, what happens next will arguably be more important in determining when and if a trial on the election subversion charges – now set to begin in early March – will take place.

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