
By CAROLINE DOWNEY. Media: Nationalreview
Attorneys representing former president Donald Trump on Saturday night asked a federal appeals court to throw out special counsel Jack Smith’s criminal case alleging that he subverted the 2020 election, claiming presidential immunity.
In a 71-page filing to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, his lawyers said the conduct Smith is targeting, namely Trump’s pressuring of state and federal officials to reverse the 2020 election results, was permitted action in his capacity as president for the purpose of ensuring a fair election. His legal team asked the appeals court to reverse a lower court’s ruling that rejected the immunity argument, which the former president has invoked in the hopes of protecting himself from federal charges related to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
“Under our system of separated powers, the Judicial Branch cannot sit in judgment over a President’s official acts,” The lawyers wrote. “The indictment against President Trump is unlawful and unconstitutional. It must be dismissed.”
Trump pleaded not guilty to four federal charges in the case in August: conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempting to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights.
In mid-December, Smith made an expedited appeal to the Supreme Court on the question of Trump’s immunity claim.
“This case presents a fundamental question at the heart of our democracy: whether a former President is absolutely immune from federal prosecution for crimes committed while in office,” Smith wrote in a legal filing. “The United States recognizes that this is an extraordinary request. This is an extraordinary case.”
On Friday, the Supreme Court refused to grant Smith’s request to expedite consideration of Trump’s immunity claim by bypassing the D.C. Circuit court.
Another urgent case concerning Trump may require the Supreme Court’s immediate attention: the Colorado supreme court’s recent decision to remove Trump from the state’s ballot for the 2024 presidential election. The court ruled that Trump is disqualified from serving as president again under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment on the theory that he “engaged in” an insurrection on January 6, and that he should therefore be removed from the Republican primary ballot. It was a 4–3 decision. All members of the bench were appointed by Democratic governors.
The Colorado court took this action in spite of the Minnesota supreme court previously declining to do so on the state-law grounds that it was premature to rule on a candidate’s qualification for office before placing him on a primary ballot. Many legal analysts believe the Colorado court likely forced the hand of the Supreme Court to resolve the federal-law questions by the January 5 deadline to set the Colorado primary ballot.
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