Federal appeals court to reject former president’s immunity

Paul Charlton a Partner in Denton’s Law Firm and Former U.S. Attorney, joins Arizona Horizon to help assess this legal strategy.

A federal appeals court signaled it would reject former President Donald Trump’s claim he is immune from prosecution on charges he plotted to overturn the 2020 election. His attorneys argue he is immune because he was never impeached or convicted of a crime.

It originally started with the Nixon versus Fitzgerald case going back to the 80s. Just as prosecutors are not to be sued for making certain decisions, a president is afforded that same kind of civil immunity.

The prosecutors pointed out that for many decades since President Nixon was in office other prosecutors have considered bringing criminal charges against presidents. That itself is proof that there has never been this theory of immunity for presidents.

Paul Charlton said, “The allegation was that President Trump and any president ought to be immune from civil cases, he ought not to be subject to civil lawsuits.”

If Trump wasn’t impeached and convicted by the Senate then he would be immune from prosecution for the assassination of a political opponent.

President Trump’s lawyers had taken that civil immunity case and said in a broader context, that it applies to criminal actions as well with the only exception being an impeachment and conviction in the Senate.