Being president doesn’t confer a lifelong “get-out-of-jail-free” pass, the judge said in her ruling.
A federal judge on Friday rejected former President Donald Trump’s claim of presidential immunity and other constitutional defenses in his 2020 election case.
In October, President Trump asked U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to dismiss the election interference charges against him in Washington, D.C., on the grounds that the U.S. Constitution grants him “absolute immunity” for acts within the “outer perimeter” of a president’s “official responsibility.”
However, on Friday evening, Judge Chutkan, an Obama appointee, found no legal foundation to conclude that presidents are immune to criminal charges after leaving office.
In a 48-page ruling, the judge wrote that neither the U.S. Constitution nor any court or branch of government “has ever accepted” this argument, “and this court will not so hold.”
“Whatever immunities a sitting president may enjoy, the United States has only one Chief Executive at a time, and that position does not confer a lifelong ‘get-out-of-jail-free’ pass. Former Presidents enjoy no special conditions on their federal criminal liability.
“Defendant may be subject to federal investigation, indictment, prosecution, conviction, and punishment for any criminal acts undertaken while in office,” she added
The ruling comes as President Trump prepares for a trial to defend himself against accusations from the Justice Department that allege he conspired to undermine the 2020 election results.
In August, President Trump pleaded not guilty to four felony charges brought by Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith, saying that he conspired to defraud the United States, obstruct the certification of the 2020 election results at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and that he conspired “against the right to vote and to have one’s vote counted.”
The indictment accuses President Trump of lying about his allegations of fraud in the 2020 presidential election and that he was the winner.
Prosecutors argue that President Trump knowingly spread “false” claims about the 2020 election results. Lawyers for the former president reject this, arguing that the prosecution “falsely claims that President Trump’s motives were impure.”
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