Unlock the Editor’s Digest totally free

Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favorite tales on this weekly e-newsletter.

A federal appeals courtroom in Washington on Tuesday appeared sceptical of Donald Trump’s argument that he’s immune from felony prosecution for allegedly trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election whereas serving within the White Home.

The previous president attended the oral argument earlier than the three-judge panel for the US Court docket of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, which got here simply days earlier than the start of the presidential major course of forward of the 2024 election.

It’s one in every of two courtroom hearings Trump is predicted to attend this week, together with closing arguments set for Thursday in a civil fraud trial introduced by the New York attorney-general towards the previous president and his enterprise empire.  

The judges tackled a crucial side of Trump’s defence towards a federal criminal case introduced by US Division of Justice particular counsel Jack Smith alleging he tried to overturn the outcomes of the 2020 election: specifically, whether or not he’s immune from prosecution as he was president on the time of the alleged crimes. A choice may have main implications for Trump’s case and set a precedent for future efforts to prosecute present or former presidents.

Trump argued that the legislation shields presidents from prosecution over acts associated to their official duties. John Sauer, a lawyer representing Trump, on Tuesday pushed the appeals courtroom to undertake a broad interpretation of presidential immunity, saying {that a} former president could solely be prosecuted if beforehand impeached and convicted by the US Congress for related crimes.

“To authorise the prosecution of a president for his official acts would open a Pandora’s field from which this nation could by no means get well,” Sauer mentioned.

However the three-judge panel challenged this argument. Decide Florence Pan mentioned Trump’s place was “not totally aligned with the institutional curiosity of the manager department” and that it “weakens the manager energy he’s attempting to say”.

Decide Karen LeCraft Henderson mentioned it was “paradoxical” to argue that Trump’s “constitutional responsibility” to make sure that legal guidelines be adopted “permits him to violate” felony legislation.

James Pearce, who represented the DoJ, mentioned that regardless of the president’s “distinctive constitutional position . . . he’s not above the legislation”. A number of authorized doctrines recognise that “a former president enjoys no immunity” from prosecution, he mentioned, and Trump’s case was “not a spot to recognise some novel type of felony immunity”.

Pearce additionally pushed again on the notion {that a} ruling towards Trump may open the “floodgates”. There could be no “sea change” in “vindictive tit for tat”, he mentioned. Siding with Trump would as a substitute usher in an “terribly horrifying future”, Pearce added.

Chatting with reporters after the listening to, Trump mentioned “a president has to have immunity”. He reiterated he had finished “nothing mistaken” whereas repeating false claims that the 2020 election was “rigged”.

US District Decide Tanya Chutkan, who’s overseeing the case within the decrease courtroom, final month rejected Trump’s movement to dismiss the case. He subsequently appealed towards this choice and requested that every one proceedings associated to the case be placed on maintain pending a last order, threatening to delay a beforehand set March trial date.

Smith, who additionally attended Tuesday’s listening to, final month requested the US Supreme Court docket to fast-track a ruling over the presidential immunity query, however the excessive courtroom declined to take it up earlier than it was heard by the intermediate appeals courtroom. The matter is predicted to land again earlier than the highest courtroom in any case following a call from the DC Circuit.

Trump faces 4 units of felony costs, together with federal and state indictments accusing him of election interference. The DoJ has additionally accused him of mishandling delicate authorities paperwork, whereas the Manhattan district lawyer has charged him over funds to a porn actress with whom Trump allegedly had an affair. The ex-president has pleaded not responsible in all instances, which he has framed as politically motivated. 

Trump can also be combating rulings within the states of Maine and Colorado which have disqualified him from the states’ presidential major ballots for partaking in an rebel, a declare he has denied.

The US Supreme Court docket final week agreed to listen to the Colorado case after Trump requested it overturn the state’s choice. It can hear arguments on February 8, placing it on the centre of a authorized dispute that can have basic implications for the 2024 polls.

Regardless of the authorized woes, Trump’s standing in opinion polls has solely improved in latest months, and he’s the clear frontrunner to safe the Republican nomination.