President Donald Trump should be immune from criminal prosecution for his official acts in office, even if he were to conduct them with criminal intentions, his lawyer argued before a federal appeals court in Washington, D.C.
A three-judge panel of the court, consisting of Judges Michelle Childs, Karen LeCraft Henderson, and Florence Pan, scrutinized that argument during a Jan. 9 hearing that dealt with the sole issue of presidential immunity.
The case was brought last year by special counsel Jack Smith, alleging that President Trump conspired to criminally obstruct Congress from counting electoral votes in 2021.
Lawyers for the former president have moved to have the case dismissed on multiple grounds, including the immunity issue. After District Judge Tanya Chutkan tossed the immunity argument, they appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, prompting Judge Chutkan to put the proceedings on hold….
