Former American President Donald Trump demanded, Thursday, October 6, from the courts that the proceedings against him in Washington in connection with the 2020 election be dismissed, arguing that he could not be charged for the actions taken while he was at the White House.
Mr. Trump, Republican favorite for the 2024 presidential election, must be tried from March 2024 in the capital. He is accused of maneuvering to try to reverse the result of the 2020 election, which he lost to Joe Biden.
His lawyers sent a request of around fifty pages to federal judge Tanya Chutkan, who will preside over the proceedings. “The court should definitely dismiss the indictment, due to presidential immunity,” they wrote. This argument is unlikely to succeed, experts say, but it could delay the start of the trial if it turns out to be decided by the Supreme Court.
The responsibility to “ensure the integrity of elections”
Similar attempts by Mr. Trump in other cases have been rejected by magistrates, but the temple of American law has never directly said whether a former head of state enjoyed immunity from criminal prosecution. Donald Trump is the first former president of the United States to be criminally charged.
Citing a case involving former President Richard Nixon that was considered by the Supreme Court, his lawyers argued that the law guarantees “absolute immunity” to the president “for acts falling within the outer scope of his responsibilities official”.
“The current administration has indicted President Trump for actions that fall not only within the outer perimeter, but also at the heart of his official responsibilities as president,” they said. Because as chief executive, they argued, Mr. Trump had a responsibility to “ensure the integrity of the elections” and was entitled to challenge the outcome of the 2020 vote.
The legal calendar promises to be busy for the Republican billionaire, who wants to win back the White House in 2024. He is also being prosecuted by New York State justice in a case of alleged accounting fraud linked to payments to buy silence of an adult film actress, and in Georgia in connection with the 2020 election.