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Lawyers for Donald Trump have issued a request to the federal appeals court that is deciding whether the former president should have presidential immunity to charges of plotting to overturn the 2020 election.
The Republican is appealing a decision made in December by Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is hearing his federal election interference trial, that he does not have "absolute immunity" from decisions made while he was in the White House.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to the four-count indictment, filed in August, which accuses him of allegedly working to overturn the results of the 2020 election in the run-up to the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
In a 41-page filing to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Trump's lawyers reasserted arguments that previous presidents have not been indicted so convention should not change and that because Trump was acquitted by the Senate during his second impeachment he could not be tried in a criminal court for election interference.
They also claimed that Trump was carrying out his presidential duties by investigating claims of voter fraud, citing an anonymously authored document purporting to contain evidence that there was fraud in the 2020 election. Claims of electoral fraud have been repeatedly rejected in court and by independent election experts.
"President Trump was right to voice his objections to what had unfolded before the
country's eyes," the document claims.
Kyle Cheney, a senior legal affairs reporter for Politico, said the use of the alleged voter fraud report was bizarre and said many if not all of the claims in it "have been debunked."
JUST IN: Trump has filed his final brief on presidential immunity to the appeals court in DC. It bizarrely cites (twice!) to this anonymously authored compendium of voter fraud claims (many, if not all, of which have been debunked) that Trump posted on social media earlier today. pic.twitter.com/HUQqTFxBLi
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) January 3, 2024
Speaking to Newsweek, Matthew Mangino, the former district attorney of Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, said: "It is astonishing that Trump's lawyers have cited a collection of debunked mistruths to support an argument in a legal brief.
"Model Rule of Professional Responsibility 3.3 requires a lawyer 'as an officer of the court to protect the tier of fact from being misled by false evidence.' This a slippery slope for Trump's counsel."
"This reference to lies complied 'anonymously' is an indication of just how desperate the immunity argument is for the Trump team."
Meanwhile, Allison Gill, who hosts political podcast Mueller, She Wrote also accused the Republican of having "no new arguments" in the filing.
Trump has no new arguments. It also seems that he doesn’t address any of the amicus briefs. https://t.co/ThcAueNerZ
— Mueller, She Wrote (@MuellerSheWrote) January 3, 2024
Newsweek contacted a representative for Trump as well as Trump's lawyers by email to comment on this story.
Trump posted about the immunity case on his Truth Social account Tuesday.
"The ridiculous Deranged Jack Smith case on Immunity, which the most respected legal minds in the Country say I am fully entitled to, is now completely compromised and should be thrown out and terminated, JUST LIKE THE RADICAL LEFT LUNATICS DID TO THE EVIDENCE!" he wrote.
Oral arguments in the case begin on January 9. The election interference trial is due to begin in Washington D.C. in March,
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About the writer
Kate Plummer is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on U.S. politics and national affairs, and ... Read more