Donald Trump shared his objection to an appeals court decision ruling that he does not have presidential immunity and can stand trial in the federal election interference case.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that former presidents do not have blanket immunity to shield them from being prosecuted for any alleged crimes they committed during their time in the White House. This effectively rejects Trump’s claim that his status as a former president safeguards him from federal charges alleging that he plotted to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
It took a month for the D.C. Circuit Court to issue its ruling after a district judge presiding over the federal election subversion case rejected Trump’s immunity argument in December and Trump submitted an appeal to circuit court judges.
“For the purpose of this criminal case, former President Trump has become citizen Trump, with all of the defenses of any other criminal defendant. But any executive immunity that may have protected him while he served as President no longer protects him against this prosecution,” the three-judge panel wrote.
Trump responded to the decision in a post to his social platform, TruthSocial.
Wording the message as if he were still a sitting president of the United States, Trump called the ruling “nation-destroying,” adding that it would “terribly injure” the presidency and “success of our country.” He also purported that the appeals court decision would “become a political weapon used for election interference.”
“A President of the United States must have Full Immunity in order to properly function and do what has to be done for the good of our Country. A Nation-destroying ruling like this cannot be allowed to stand,” Trump wrote. “If not overturned, as it should be, this decision would terribly injure not only the Presidency, but the Life, Breath, and Success of our Country. A President will be afraid to act…
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