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Lawyers for former President Trump asked an appeals court in Washington Saturday night to toss a federal indictment accusing him of plotting to overturn the 2020 election, arguing that he was immune to the charges because they arose from actions he had taken while he was in the White House.
The weekend filing to the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit was the latest salvo in a long-running and crucial battle between Trump and the special counsel, Jack Smith, over whether the former president enjoys immunity to the election interference charges.
The fight over immunity has now touched all three levels of the federal court system, including the Supreme Court, which on Friday declined Smith’s request to intervene and hear the case before the appeals court. The ultimate resolution of the issue will have a significant effect not only on the overall viability of the election interference case, but also on whether a trial on the charges is postponed until the heart of the 2024 campaign – or even until after the election. At that point, if Trump wins the presidency, he could order the charges to be dropped.
In a 55-page brief to the court, D John Sauer, Trump’s lawyer, argued that under the Constitution, judges cannot hold the president accountable for any acts undertaken while in office. “Under our system of separated powers, the judicial branch cannot sit in judgment over a president’s official acts,” he wrote, adding, “That doctrine is not controversial.”
The weekend filing to the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit was the latest salvo in a long-running and crucial battle between Trump and the special counsel, Jack Smith, over whether the former president enjoys immunity to the election interference charges.
The fight over immunity has now touched all three levels of the federal court system, including the Supreme Court, which on Friday declined Smith’s request to intervene and hear the case before the appeals court. The ultimate resolution of the issue will have a significant effect not only on the overall viability of the election interference case, but also on whether a trial on the charges is postponed until the heart of the 2024 campaign – or even until after the election. At that point, if Trump wins the presidency, he could order the charges to be dropped.
In a 55-page brief to the court, D John Sauer, Trump’s lawyer, argued that under the Constitution, judges cannot hold the president accountable for any acts undertaken while in office. “Under our system of separated powers, the judicial branch cannot sit in judgment over a president’s official acts,” he wrote, adding, “That doctrine is not controversial.”
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