Trump does not have immunity from election conspiracy charges, appeals court rules

A federal appeals court has ruled that Donald Trump does not have “immunity” from prosecution for crimes committed while he was in office – landing another major blow to his efforts to evade criminal charges for his attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

His attorneys are expected to swiftly appeal the decision to the full bench of appeals court judges, or all the way up to the US Supreme Court, teeing up another major constitutional test involving Mr Trump’s campaign at the nation’s highest court.

“For the purpose of this criminal case, former President Trump has become citizen Trump, with all of the defenses of any other criminal defendant,” judges with the US District Court of Appeals in Washington DC wrote on Tuesday. “But any executive immunity that may have protected him while he served as president no longer protects him against this prosecution.”

Last year’s federal grand jury indictment outlines a multi-state scheme from Mr Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 election, culminating in his failure to stop a mob’s violent breach of the US Capitol on 6 January. He faces four criminal charges, including conspiracy and obstruction.

In December, US District JudgeTanya Chutkan rejected his motion to dismiss the case on “immunity” grounds, writing in a 48-page ruling that his four-year term “did not bestow on him the divine right of kings to evade the criminal accountability that governs his fellow citizens”.

The office of the presidency “does not confer a lifelong ‘get-out-of-jail-free’ pass”, nor do former presidents enjoy any special consideration after leaving office, when they are “subject to federal investigation, indictment, prosecution, conviction, and punishment for any criminal acts