Former United States President Donald Trump has no immunity from crimes committed while in office and is liable for prosecution, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday.
The ruling has capped weekslong speculations and furious debates over whether or not Mr Trump’s argument and claim to immunity from offences committed during his presidency would stand.
A panel of three judges on Tuesday unanimously held that Mr Trump should be criminally tried for his role in attempting to subvert the 2020 election, stressing that the former president no longer wielded the powers of the presidency and was merely a citizen who was subject to the full force of the law.
“For the purpose of this criminal case, former President Trump has become citizen Trump, with all of the defences of any other criminal defendant,” the judges wrote in the 57-page ruling. “But any executive immunity that may have protected him while he served as president no longer protects him against this prosecution.”
The panel said Mr Trump, stripped of his presidential powers, could not continue to claim immunity as it would suggest that former American leaders were above the law, an untenable notion.
“At bottom, former President Trump’s stance would collapse our system of separated powers by placing the president beyond the reach of all three branches,” the judges stressed.
“Presidential immunity against federal indictment would mean that, as to the president, the Congress could not legislate, the executive could not prosecute, and the judiciary could not review. We cannot accept that the office of the presidency places its former occupants above the law for all time thereafter.”
According to Steven Cheung, spokesperson for the ex-president’s campaign, Mr Trump is determined to appeal the ruling and forward his grievances to the Supreme Court for a final verdict.
Mr Cheung voiced concerns that future presidents would suffer a similar fate and be charged with crimes for judgements made in office.
“Without complete immunity, a president of the United States would not be able to properly function,” Mr Cheung opined.