His attempts to overturn the results of the presidential election alone are a concern for the judiciary in several places. Two courts now have bad news for the Republican.
There are several proceedings underway against former US President Donald Trump – on Friday he suffered two defeats. The judge in charge of his federal case in connection with attempted election fraud rejected Trump’s request to dismiss the lawsuit in the US capital Washington.
The Republican justified this with the immunity of the presidency. “The defendant’s four years of service as commander-in-chief did not confer on him the divine right of kings to escape criminal liability that applies to his fellow citizens,” the judge wrote in the ruling. The trial is scheduled to begin early next year.
Last word not yet spoken
With the argument of immunity, Trump failed in another trial in Washington. There, an appeals court decided that civil lawsuits against the 77-year-old for the storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021 can continue. Trump supporters stormed the parliament building in Washington. Congress met there to formally confirm Democrat Joe Biden’s victory in the presidential election. Trump had previously incited his supporters during a speech. As a result of the riots, five people died.
Some members of the Capitol Police and Democratic members of Congress then sued for damages. Trump had sought the dismissal of the lawsuits and also argued here with the immunity of the presidency. The court now rejected this application – but did not decide on the admissibility of the lawsuits. “The question of immunity depends on whether President Trump delivered the January 6 speech in an official or private capacity,” the ruling said. “Today we are not finally clarifying this question.” The last word may not have been spoken here.
Hearing in Georgia
Meanwhile, Trump’s lawyers defended the former US president for the first time at a hearing on charges of election interference in the state of Georgia. Trump himself was not present at the meeting on Friday in Atlanta.
Trump’s lawyer Steve Sadow called a possible trial during next year’s election campaign “election interference” and called for the charges to be dropped. The public prosecutor rejected the allegations. Trump wants to move back into the White House after the election next year. The hearing was about, among other things, the date for the start of the actual trial.
In Georgia, Trump was indicted along with 18 other defendants over his attempts to overturn the outcome of the 2020 presidential election in the state. Some of Trump’s former associates have entered into a deal with prosecutors in the process and have pleaded guilty.
