US court strikes down Trump’s presidential immunity claims

Photo courtesy of the White House

On 6 February 2024, the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit ruled that Donald Trump does not have presidential immunity, and that he is still eligible for prosecution for his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. 

The ruling was a unanimous decision from the 3-judge panel of the Washington DC court, who wrote that granting Trump presidential immunity would ‘collapse our system of separated powers by placing the President beyond the reach of all three Branches.’

They added, ‘We cannot accept former president Trump’s claim that a President has unbounded authority to commit crimes that would neutralise the most fundamental check on executive power—the recognition and implementation of election results.’

This comes after Trump was indicted on 1 August 2023 for plotting to overturn the results of the 2020 US election—an attempt which culminated in the violent riot at the US Capitol initiated by his supporters on 6 January 2021. Trump and his legal team have since argued that his status as president at the time shields him from criminal charges. 

‘As a president, you have to have immunity,’ Trump said in a speech on the day before the ruling, claiming that without immunity ‘every president that leaves office will be immediately indicted by the opposing party’.

Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung says that they will appeal the case ‘in order to safeguard the Presidency and the Constitution’. They have until 12 February to do so.

Despite Trump’s failed immunity claims, his repeated appeals have meant that his trial for the Capitol riot, originally scheduled for 4 March 2024, has been indefinitely postponed. Further delays in the judicial process may result in the 2024 elections being held before the trial can take place. 

Should Trump be elected president before the trial, he would be able to circumvent any legal consequences for his actions, as sitting presidents cannot be prosecuted.