The federal prosecutors who charged former President Donald J. Trump with conspiring to overturn the 2020 election pushed back on Thursday against one of his central defenses, rejecting his claims that he enjoyed “absolute immunity” from criminal prosecution because his indictment arose from actions he took while in the White House.
The prosecutors in the office of the special counsel, Jack Smith, said Mr. Trump’s expansive bid to claim immunity was unsupported by “the Constitution’s text and structure, history and tradition, or Supreme Court precedent.”“The defendant is not above the law,” they wrote in a 54-page filing.
“He is subject to the federal criminal laws like more than 330 million other Americans, including members of Congress, federal judges, and everyday citizens.”The court papers, filed in Federal District Court in Washington, were a blunt rebuttal of Mr. Trump’s attempt to have Judge Tanya S. Chutkan, who is overseeing the case, dismiss the four counts he is facing before they go to trial.
Though filled with technical jargon and arcane citations of the Federalist Papers, the government’s response to Mr. Trump boiled down to a simple argument: In the United States, the law equally applies to everyone.
Persons:
Donald J, Trump, Jack Smith, ”, Trump’s, Tanya S, Chutkan
Organizations:
Court
Locations:
Washington, United States