pjmedia.com In a unanimous decision on Tuesday, a federal appeals court declared that former President Donald Trump does not have presidential immunity and can face criminal charges for challenging the results of the 2020 election because of reports of widespread fraud.
āFor the purpose of this criminal case, former President Trump has become citizen Trump, with all of the defenses of any other criminal defendant. But any executive immunity that may have protected him while he served as President no longer protects him against this prosecution,ā the courtĀ wrote.
āIt would be a striking paradox if the President, who alone is vested with the constitutional duty to ātake Care that the Laws be faithfully executed,ā were the sole officer capable of defying those laws with impunity,ā the ruling continued.
The three-judge panel included two Biden appointees, J. Michelle Childs and Florence Pan, and one appointee of President George H.W. Bush, Karen LeCraft Henderson.
Trump’s legal team asserted that a criminal indictment against him would have a “chilling effect” on future presidents because it would open them up to being indicted for “official acts” after leaving office. The judges were not convinced by this argument.
āMoreover, past Presidents have understood themselves to be subject to impeachment and criminal liability, at least under certain circumstances, so the possibility of chilling executive action is already in effect,” they wrote. “We cannot accept that the office of the Presidency places its former occupants above the law for all time thereafter. Careful evaluation of these concerns leads us to conclude that there is no functional justification for immunizing former Presidents from federal prosecution in general or for immunizing former President Trump from the specific charges in the Indictment.”…
READ FULL ARTICLE HERE…ā PJ Media
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