Trump in court to argue immunity in conspiracy case
DONALD Trump arrived in a Washington court yesterday to argue that as a former US president, he should be immune from prosecution on charges that he conspired to overturn the 2020 election.
Trump, 77, arrived in a motorcade to attend an appeals court hearing at a federal courthouse just blocks away from the US Capitol stormed by his supporters on January 6, 2021, in an attempt to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power to election winner Joe Biden.
Trump, frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, is scheduled to go on trial in Washington on March 4 on charges of conspiracy to defraud the US and obstruction linked to his efforts to upend the 2020 vote. Trump’s attorneys have sought to quash the election interference charges with the novel argument that a former president enjoys “absolute immunity” and cannot be prosecuted for actions he took while in the White House.
US District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is to preside over the trial, rejected the immunity claim last month, saying an ex-president does not have a “lifelong ‘get-out-of-jail-free’ pass”.
Trump appealed that decision and a three-judge panel for the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit was hearing oral arguments in the case yesterday.
Two of the judges were appointed by Democratic President Joe Biden while the third was named by Republican president George HW Bush. Trump was not actually required to attend the hearing. His presence, just days before the Republican presidential primary contests kick off in Iowa, underlined his goal of making his fight against multiple criminal prosecutions part of his political campaign.
Trump, on his Truth Social platform, warned a rejection of his immunity defence could lead to indictments of Biden, 81, if he returns to power.
“The least I am entitled to is presidential immunity on fake Biden indictments! If I don’t get immunity, then crooked Joe Biden doesn’t get immunity,” Trump said, claiming his Democratic opponent “would be ripe for indictment”.