WASHINGTON: Donald Trump does not have immunity from charges he plotted to overturn his 2020 election defeat, a federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday, bringing the former US president a step closer to an unprecedented criminal trial.

A three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected Trump’s claim that he cannot be prosecuted because the allegations relate to his official responsibilities as president.

“We cannot accept that the office of the Presidency places its former occupants above the law for all time thereafter,” the unanimous panel wrote. The court concluded that any executive immunity that may have shielded Trump from criminal charges while he served as president “no longer protects him against this prosecution.”

The ruling, which Trump vowed to appeal, rebuffs his attempt to avoid a trial on charges that he undermined American democracy and the transfer of power, even as he consolidates his position as the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination.

A Trump campaign spokesperson said the ruling “threatens the bedrock of our Republic.” “Without complete immunity, a President of the United States would not be able to properly function!” the spokesperson, Steven Cheung, said in a statement. He said Trump would appeal, but did not say whether he would first ask the full DC Circuit Court to review the ruling or go directly to the US Supreme Court.

A spokesperson for Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is leading the prosecution, declined to comment. The case will remain paused until at least Monday to give Trump time to appeal to the US Supreme Court.

Trumps lawyers argued that former presidents were entitled to sweeping legal protections and could not be criminally prosecuted for official actions unless first impeached by the House of Representatives and removed from office by the Senate.

Trump was impeached twice by the House, but each time Senate Republicans cast sufficient votes to acquit him of the charges.

Judges homed in on the broad nature of Trump’s claim at a Jan 9 hearing, questioning a Trump lawyer over whether even a president who ordered military commandos to assassinate a political rival could escape criminal prosecution without initial action by Congress.

The panel wrote in its ruling that giving Trump immunity in this case would give presidents “unbounded authority to commit crimes that would neutralise the most fundamental check on executive power the recognition and implementation of election results.” The judges concluded there was no “functional justification” for giving former presidents full protection from federal prosecution even over actions related to their formal responsibilities.

Trump has repeatedly voiced his immunity claim on the campaign trail and social media, warning that his future administration could prosecute President Joe Biden, his likely opponent in the November election, if he returned to the White House.

Published in Dawn, February 7th, 2024