US election campaign and criminal proceedings
Trump advocates “complete immunity” for presidents
January 18, 2024, 7:48 p.m
Listen to article
This audio version was artificially generated. More info | Send feedback
91 counts, four criminal charges and up to 700 years in prison. These include fraud, illegal hush money payments, obstruction of justice, election fraud and incitement to insurrection. You should be allowed to if you are president. This is what Donald Trump trumpets in his own echo chamber.
Donald Trump has called for “complete immunity” for the President of the United States. “A President of the United States should enjoy complete immunity, otherwise he or she cannot properly exercise his or her office,” the former US President wrote in capital letters on the online service he founded, Truth Social. The Republican emphasized that immunity must apply even to acts that “cross a red line.”
US presidents need to be given immunity to make difficult decisions, Trump argued. This necessity is more important than the danger posed by presidents when they break the rules. Trump wants to run against Democratic incumbent Joe Biden in the November presidential election. According to polls, he has the best chance of being nominated by his party for the election on November 5th.
A number of advertisements are endangering Trump’s election campaign
The immunity would only come in handy for Trump. In total he faces 91 charges and four criminal proceedings. These include fraud, illegal hush money payments, obstruction of justice, election fraud and incitement to insurrection. If he were convicted on all charges, he would face 700 years in prison. His lawyers also argue that he enjoys “absolute immunity” and cannot be prosecuted for actions that fall within his term of office.
At the beginning of December, federal judge Tanya Chutkan rejected Trump’s immunity on the grounds that there is no law that protects an ex-president from criminal prosecution. Trump’s lawyers filed an appeal against their decision, which is now being heard by the federal appeals court. The appeals court judges in Washington expressed skepticism about the request for immunity.
If a decision goes against him, Trump could appeal to the Supreme Court. “God bless the Supreme Court,” Trump said on Truth Social, emphasizing that he hoped for an “easy decision” from the court. The start of a trial against Trump in federal court on election manipulation allegations is currently scheduled for March 4th, right in the middle of the presidential primaries. However, the trial cannot take place without prior clarification of the immunity issue – which is why it is unclear whether the deadline can be met.