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Republican presidential candidate, former President Donald Trump. (Photo by Scott Eisen/Getty Images)
cnn
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Donald Trump will appeal a federal judge’s decision in Washington, DC, to reject his attempts to dismiss the election subversion case against him.
Trump’s lawyers also asked the judge to suspend all proceedings in the case until the appeal is resolved. They notified the court Thursday of their intention to appeal.
Once they filed the notice, Trump’s lawyers wrote that the move “deprived this Court of jurisdiction over this case in its entirety pending resolution of the appeal.” They argued that the suspension of subsequent proceedings is “mandatory and automatic.”
Several arguments that the case should be dismissed failed in the trial court. For example, Trump’s lawyers have argued that as president, Trump had immunity from criminal prosecution brought by special counsel Jack Smith. They say Trump’s alleged actions regarding the 2020 election results were part of his official duties at the time.
His lawyers also argued that a president can only be impeached if he was convicted by the Senate during the impeachment process, which was not the case with Trump.
The question over the presidential protections Trump hopes to use as part of his defense will need to be resolved before Trump goes to trial, which is currently scheduled for March 2024. Any ruling by the appeals judges is also likely to be presented to the court. . Supreme Court.
“The Constitution protects presidents in their work to ensure that laws are followed, especially when it comes to elections,” Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement Thursday.
“Consistent with binding Supreme Court jurisprudence, the unconstitutional prosecution must be stayed while President Trump appeals this vital issue.”
Judge Tanya Chutkan, who will preside over Trump’s election interference trial in DC, refused to dismiss the charges against the former president. In a ruling last week, Chutkan said Trump does not enjoy absolute immunity for what he said and did after the 2020 election.
“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 lifetime get-out-of-jail-free pass,” Chutkan wrote in his ruling.
He added that Trump’s “four years of service as Commander in Chief did not grant him the divine right of kings to evade the criminal responsibility that governs his fellow citizens.”
This story has been updated with additional information.
