Former United States President Donald Trump is seeking the dismissal of an election interference case, claiming the defense of presidential immunity.
The Republican businessman's lawyers argue that their client's attempts to cast doubt on the 2020 election fell within his official duties as president and should not be subject to criminal prosecution.
Trump's Election Interference Case
Trump's legal team had asked a judge to dismiss the charges against him for alleged election interference. The former president also asked for a delay in his classified documents case.
In the latter, the former president's attorneys have asked for that trial, in which he is accused of improperly handling sensitive files, to be held after the 2024 presidential election. The two cases are part of a flurry of legal filings made in the past few days related to several of Trump's ongoing cases.
On Thursday, a new filing was made for the election interference case where Trump's lawyer argued that their client's public statements about the 2020 election were attempts at "ensuring the integrity of federal elections," as per BBC.
They also claimed that the former president's actions alleged in the indictment lie firmly within the "outer perimeter" of Trump's official responsibility. They noted that this means that they cannot form the basis of criminal charges against the Republican businessman.
The controversy focuses on a range of allegations that Trump made about fraud in the 2020 presidential election following his loss against Joe Biden. However, no evidence has emerged of any widespread fraud that would have changed the election result.
Special prosecutor Jack Smith brought The charges related to the 2020 presidential election in Washington, DC. He said that Trump interfered with the normal transfer of presidential power after his legal challenges to the vote were found to be unsuccessful.
Read Also : New York Judge Rules Donald Trump, Sons Liable for Fraud, Lied About Net Worth in $250-Million Lawsuit
Citing Presidential Immunity
Prosecutors, on the other hand, alleged that the former president and several of his lawyers and advisers tried to implement a plot to appoint a fake slate of electors and spread misinformation about voting security. This is something that they claim ultimately led to the violence in the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021., according to CNN.
In the filings that Trump's attorneys made with US District Judge Tanya Chutkan, they said that the incumbent administration broke 234 years of precedent and charged a president for acts at the heart of his official responsibilities as leader of the nation.
The Republican businessman's attorneys also said that the prosecution is falsely claiming that their client's motives were impure and that he purportedly "knew" that the widespread efforts of fraud and election irregularities were untrue but continued to try and address them anyway.
However, the argument is likely to be completely rejected by the Department of Justice (DOJ), which, through Smith's team, argued that Trump skirted lawful means to voice his dissatisfaction with the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Currently, Trump is facing charges under three statutes, with authorities saying that he engaged in a conspiracy to defraud the United States, obstruct the certification of the votes being carried out by Congress, as well as a conspiracy "against the right to vote and to have one's vote counted," said The Hill.
