Former US president Donald Trump on Tuesday (January 9) arrived in a court in Washington DC to bat for immunity from prosecution over charges that accuse him of conspiracy to overturn US Presidential Election 2020 results. The court where the 77-year-old former president arrived is just a few blocks away from US Capitol building, which was stormed by his supporters on January 6, 2021. The last attack on US Capitol building took place when America was still a British colony.
The trial over the election charges is set to begin on March 4. Trump’s legal team has appealed quashing the charges claiming that he has “absolute immunity” and can’t be prosecuted for his actions while he was in the White House.
By January 6, 2021, although it was clear that Trump had lost the election, he technically still was US president since current President Joe Biden had not formally taken charge.
This is not the first time an immunity claim has been made. Just last month, US District Judge Tanya Chutkan rejected immunity saying that even a former president can’t have a “lifelong ‘get-out-of-jail-free’ pass.” Chutkan will preside over the election-related trial against Trump.
Trump’s “four-year service as Commander in Chief did not bestow on him the divine right of kings to evade the criminal accountability that governs his fellow citizens,” Chutkan had said while she rejected the request for immunity.
Trump made an appeal against the decision and a three-judge panel of US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit was hearing oral arguments on Tuesday.
Trump didn’t need to attend the hearing but he decided to turn up anyway. This is being seen as a political signal as the hearing is taking place just days before Republican presidential primary in Iowa.
If I don’t get it, Biden doesn’t get it
In the run up to the court hearing on Tuesday, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform saying that if he doesn’t get immunity, President Joe Biden can be indicted if he returns to power after 2024 elections.
“The least I am entitled to is Presidential Immunity on Fake Biden Indictments!” Trump said.
“If I don’t get Immunity, then Crooked Joe Biden doesn’t get Immunity,” Trump said, claiming Biden “would be ripe for Indictment.”
Trump has some historical firsts to his name. While in office, he became first US president to be impeached twice. After his tenure as president, he became first sitting or former US president to be charged, indicted and then arrested.
(With inputs from agencies)
