(Washington) The American federal prosecutor’s office opposed Thursday the attempt by former President of the United States Donald Trump to dismiss the prosecution against him on the grounds of “absolute immunity” which he claims to enjoy for the actions companies while he was in the White House.
“No one in this country, not even the president, is above the law,” wrote special prosecutor Jack Smith’s team in a 54-page document addressed to the judge presiding over the case, the urging rejection of Mr. Trump’s request.
Mr. Trump, Republican favorite for the 2024 presidential election, must be tried starting next March in the capital. He is accused of maneuvering to try to reverse the result of the 2020 election, which he lost to Joe Biden.
PHOTO J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE, ARCHIVES ASSOCIATED PRESS
Special Prosecutor Jack Smith
In early October, the ex-president’s lawyers sent a request to federal judge Tanya Chutkan, saying that “the court should definitively dismiss the indictment, due to presidential immunity.”
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 perimeter’ of his official responsibilities.
“The current administration has indicted President Trump for actions that fall not only within the ‘outer perimeter,’ but also at the core 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.
Donald Trump “is subject to federal criminal laws like more than 330 million other Americans,” retorted the special prosecutor’s team, adding that “no court has ever discussed the existence of absolute criminal immunity for former presidents.
Mr. Trump’s request is unlikely to succeed according to experts, but it could delay the start of the trial if it ends up having to be decided by the Supreme Court.
Donald Trump is the first former president of the United States to be criminally charged.
The legal calendar promises to be busy for the Republican billionaire. He is also being prosecuted by the New York State courts in a case of alleged accounting fraud linked to payments to buy the silence of an adult film actress, and in Georgia in connection with the 2020 election.