Yesterday, Donald Trump sought to leverage the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision granting extensive immunity to the former president.
He urged the federal judge overseeing his criminal case for retaining classified documents to carefully scrutinize charges involving “official” acts that may be exempt from prosecution, reported The Guardian.
This week, the Supreme Court ruled that former presidents have limited immunity from criminal prosecution for certain actions taken while in office.
This also means evidence related to immune acts cannot be used in trials, even if they are not part of the charges.
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According to the ruling, the framework of criminal accountability for former presidents includes three categories: core presidential functions with absolute immunity, official acts of the presidency with presumptive immunity and unofficial acts with no immunity.
Trump’s lawyers did not specify which parts of the indictment they viewed as immune official conduct.
If Judge Aileen Cannon agrees to review the charges in the classified documents case, it could significantly prolong the case, according to The Guardian.
The filing underscores the broad impact of the immunity ruling, which is affecting Trump’s documents case in Florida, even though the ruling stemmed from an appeal in the former president’s 2020 election subversion case in Washington, D.C.
It also highlights Trump’s strategy to undermine the substance of the classified documents case.
In a 10-page filing, Trump’s lawyers requested Cannon’s permission to submit new briefs, asserting that the immunity ruling undermines the prosecution’s argument and highlights its politically motivated stance, labeling the motion as “frivolous.” Additionally, Trump’s filing seeks to halt all other proceedings until Cannon determines the authority of special counsel Jack Smith and his team to initiate the case.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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