Since his term finished in 2020, Donald Trump has been in several court cases. The US courts just recently said that Donald Trump does not have “Presidential immunity” and that he cannot use it as an excuse to fight the charges he is currently facing.
Trump said that he was not guilty of any crimes because the things he was accused of doing “fell within his duties as president.” He said that he had Presidential immunity. But in a vote on Tuesday, Washington, D.C., voted against this.
“We can’t accept former President Trump’s claim that a president has unlimited power to commit crimes that would get rid of the most basic check on executive power, which is recognizing and carrying out election results,” the D.C. Court of Appeals wrote. They said, “For the purpose of this criminal case, former President Trump has become citizen Trump, with all of the defenses of any other criminal defendant.”
Steven Cheung, a Trump spokesman, said that the president “disagrees with the DC Circuit’s decision and will appeal it.” The case will go to the Supreme Court, where they will decide if he should keep appealing.
Cheung went on, “If immunity isn’t given to a president, the opposing party will immediately bring charges against every future president who leaves office.” A president of the United States would not be able to do their job well without full protection.
Judge Tanya Chutkan wrote that being president “does not give a lifetime “get-out-of-jail-free” pass.” Other judges said that presidents would be able to do other illegal things if they had protection, like “order the murder of a political rival” or “sell state secrets without worrying about being charged with a crime.”
Donald Trump is being charged with many things right now, such as planning to change the results of the 2020 election and taking part in the Capitol Riot on January 6. He’s also been charged and sued for his real estate deals in New York City, along with other charges involving more than one person.
