ReutersFormer President Trump on the campaign trail in South Carolina last weekend
NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 04:10
Former US President Trump has asked the Supreme Court to overrule a lower court’s ruling that Trump does not have immunity for his attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss.
Last week, the Court of Appeals in Washington DC ruled that Trump can be prosecuted like any other citizen, after a judge in the same district came to the same conclusion last year.
According to Trump’s lawyers, “the presidency as we know it will cease to exist if the president does not enjoy immunity from prosecution for crimes. Any decision by the president on a controversial issue then carries with it the threat of prosecution if the other party comes to power.”
They add the argument that “a months-long criminal case against Trump, at the height of the election year, will drastically hamper his ability to campaign.”
President or candidate?
The lawyers argue that Trump was still president in 2020 and therefore has immunity from prosecution. However, the team of Jack Smith, the special prosecutor who initiated the criminal case against Trump on behalf of the government, argues that Trump was only a presidential candidate during the period covered by the criminal case. This mainly revolves around Trump’s attempts to force politicians and officials to falsify the election results in the fall of 2020, and his call for supporters to storm the Capitol in 2021.
In any case, a delay in the criminal case is to Trump’s advantage: the criminal case was scheduled to start in March, but it has now been postponed to a new date that has not yet been determined. If Trump wins the election before the case is concluded, he could pardon himself or have the case dropped.
The US Supreme Court consists largely (six of the nine members) of judges with a conservative reputation. Three of them were previously appointed by Trump. It is unknown whether the Court will rule on this case, and to which judgment it will lean.
2024-02-13 03:10:13
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