By John Kruzel
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Special prosecutor files federal criminal charges against Donald Trump for his efforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat, filed a brief in the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday, urging the justices to reject the former president’s request for immunity from prosecution on the principle that “no one is above the law.”
The case is due to be argued before judges on April 25. Trump appealed a lower court’s rejection of his request to be shielded from the criminal case brought by special counsel Jack Smith because he was president when he took the necessary actions. center of the file.
In his final filing before the arguments, Smith told the justices that Trump’s actions that led to the charges, if convicted, would represent “an unprecedented attack on the structure of our government.”
“The effective functioning of the presidency does not require that a former president be immune from accountability for these alleged violations of federal criminal law,” Smith wrote. “On the contrary, a fundamental principle of our constitutional order is that no one is above the law, including the president.”
Trump, the first former president to be criminally prosecuted, is the Republican candidate challenging Democrats. President Joe Biden during the American elections on November 5. Biden defeated Trump in 2020. Trump has pleaded not guilty in that case and the three other criminal cases he faces, seeking to portray them as politically motivated.
He argued that a former president enjoys “absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for his official acts”, and warned that without this immunity, “the threat of future prosecution and imprisonment would become a political cudgel to influence the most sensitive and controversial presidential decisions. “
In August 2023, Smith brought four federal charges against Trump in the election subversion case, including conspiracy to defraud the United States, obstructing Congress’ certification of Biden’s election victory and for conspiring to do so, and for conspiring against the right of Americans to vote.
Smith’s view was supported Monday by a group of 19 retired four-star U.S. military officers and other former top national security officials, including retired Army generals Peter Chiarelli and George Casey , former CIA Director Michael Hayden and former Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus. In a friend-of-the-court brief, they called Trump’s claim of presidential immunity “contrary to the fundamental principles of our democracy.”
“Unless (Trump’s) theory is rejected, we risk jeopardizing America’s position as the guardian of democracy around the world and further fueling the spread of authoritarianism, thereby threatening national security of the United States and democracies around the world,” the former officials said. the judges.
The Supreme Court’s decision to hear arguments on Trump’s immunity request in late April postponed his trial, giving Trump a boost as he tries to delay prosecutions while running to win back the presidency .
Trump requested last October that the charges be dismissed based on his claim of immunity. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan rejected that claim in December. On appeal, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled 3-0 against Trump’s request on February 6.
Trump and his allies made false claims that the 2020 election was stolen and hatched a plan to use fake voters to thwart Congress’ certification of Biden’s victory. Trump also sought to pressure then-Vice President Mike Pence not to authorize the certification. Trump supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 in an attempt to prevent certification.
(Reporting by John Kruzel; editing by Will Dunham)
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