NEWSWEEK
Any possible appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court by former President Donald Trump regarding a judge’s ruling that he is not immune from prosecution is unlikely to succeed, legal analyst Glenn Kirschner said.
Trump was dealt a blow over the weekend in a federal case accusing him of attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election in the run-up to the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. He pleaded not guilty to the charges, including conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, and he moved to have the charges in the four-count indictment, filed in August, dismissed based on presidential immunity and constitutional grounds.
But in a 48-page opinion on Friday, U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan ruled that former presidents will have “no special conditions on their federal criminal liability” and Trump does not have “absolute immunity” from criminal prosecution for his actions while in the White House. That means Trump may be subject to federal investigation, indictment, prosecution, conviction and punishment for any criminal acts while in office.
“Whatever immunities a sitting President may enjoy, the United States has only one Chief Executive at a time, and that position does not confer a lifelong ‘get-out-of-jail-free’ pass,” Chutkan wrote, adding that the “defendant’s four-year service as Commander in Chief did not bestow on him the divine right of kings to evade the criminal accountability that governs his fellow citizens.”
Attorneys for Trump are expected to appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, potentially delaying Trump’s scheduled March 4, 2024, trial.
