Former President Donald Trump had a new defeatnow in the Court of Appeals for the Washington, DC Circuit, where a panel of judges rejected that the former president is immune from a complaint for inciting violence on January 6, 2021.
This decision is relevant, because the former president has claimed that he has “presidential immunity,” but now the judges point out that his actions are not automatically protected under that figure.
“When a president in his first term chooses to seek a second term, his campaign to win re-election is not an official presidential act“, wrote the presiding judge of that court, Sri Srinivasan, in the opinion.
The judge adds that even if he is in that position, a president who is campaigning for a second term does not act officially with the imbedacity that he has at that moment.
“The Office of the President, as an institution, is agnostic about who will fill it next. And campaigning for that office is not an official act of office,” says Judge Srinivasan, who was appointed by President Barack Obama in 2013.
The court’s decision, however, also allows former President Trump to continue fighting in court his claims that he was acting as president when he led the rally, after which his MAGA followers attacked Congresswhere the joint session of the chambers was held to certify the Electoral College votes and confirm President Joe Biden as the winner of the election.
Trump has pointed out since 2020 that there was electoral fraud, despite the fact that his team of lawyers could not prove such statements in court.
The former president faces several investigations into the 2020 elections, including a couple in Arizona and Nevada, where they reveal that there is a key witness.
Road to the Supreme Court
After losing in the Court of Appeals, the former president’s legal team can go to the Supreme Court.
In an official position, former President Trump’s spokesman, Steven Cheung, described the judges’ ruling as “limited.”
“The facts fully show that on January 6, President Trump was acting on behalf of the American people, fulfilling his duties as president of the United States,” Cheung said.
This decision may have an impact on other legal proceedings facing Trumpas charged in the District Court of Washington, D.C.
Trump’s defense team has used the same argument about “presidential immunity,” including against special counsel Jack Smith, who is investigating the assault on the Capitol.
District Judge in DC, Tanya Chutkan, has not yet made a decision on the former president’s claim.
The Court of Appeals discussed the case after a police officer, James Blassingame, filed a lawsuit for injuries he suffered from Trump supporters at the Capitol.
“I hope our case helps put our democracy back on the right path,” Blassingame said in a statement. “[Esto estaría] making it very clear that no person, regardless of their title or position, is above the rule of law.”
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