Trump has also claimed immunity in the case of classified papers International

Donald Trump has once again claimed immunity. This time he does it in the case of classified papers that the FBI found during a search of his mansion at Mar-a-Lago, Palm Beach (Florida) that the former president improperly retained. Trump argues that he should be immune from accusations that he illegally withheld national security documents because they stem from decisions he made in his final weeks as president. Lawyers for the former president have filed several motions demanding that the case be brought before Judge Allyn Cannon, a Trump appointee who has repeatedly ruled in his favor.

Trump has already claimed immunity in a Washington case that is investigating him for attempted fraud in connection with the results of the 2020 presidential election, which he lost to Joe Biden. The judge handling the case, Tanya Chutkan, and the Court of Appeals rejected the former president’s immunity in very strong terms.

“Whatever immunity a sitting president may enjoy, the United States has only one chief executive at a time, and that office does not carry life imprisonment,” Judge Chutkan said in the first instance. “For purposes of this criminal case, former President Trump has become Citizen Trump, with all the defenses of any other criminal defendant. But any executive immunity that would have protected him while he served as president now protects him against this charge. No,” said the three-judge ruling of the Court of Appeals. “It would be a striking paradox if the President, who has the ultimate constitutional duty to ensure faithful observance of the laws, is the only office capable of being challenged with impunity,” they elaborated.

However, Trump has appealed to the Supreme Court and requested that the case be halted while the justices decide whether the former president is immune from prosecution for alleged crimes committed in the exercise of his office. Jack Smith, the special prosecutor in charge of both the Washington and Florida cases, has asked the Supreme Court to reject Trump’s request and allow the process to move forward.

The former president has already managed to delay the process and momentarily avoid sitting in the dock in the middle of the Republican Party primaries. Judge Chutkan had scheduled the trial for March 4, but Trump’s resources have forced him to postpone it indefinitely. Now, history may be repeating itself when a Florida court handles the Mar-a-Lago papers case, in which Trump is accused of 40 crimes.

Whether Judge Cannon agrees or rejects her, but Trump’s lawyers are appealing, the case will be delayed and likely held after May 20, the originally scheduled date. The judge has set a hearing on March 1 regarding the trial schedule.

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Trump, the favorite for the nomination as the Republican presidential candidate, wants to avoid sitting in the dock and making decisions before the election. If he delays the cases and is elected, he could order the charges in the two federal cases to be dropped. If he is found guilty in the New York trial, he may even try to pardon himself and will have a slightly more complicated time in the Atlanta (Georgia) trial.

A battery of briefs filed by Trump’s lawyers before Judge Cannon allege various reasons to shelve the case. In one of them, the appointment of Special Prosecutor Jack Smith and the funding he received are said to be illegal. Others note that the allegations conflict with other US laws regarding the use of presidential records. In addition, Trump’s lawyers have also requested that the case be dismissed because the charges, in their opinion, are too vague and therefore violate the Constitution, according to another document. They also request the file for due process violations and “selective and retaliatory” persecution.

The second petition is one that specifically alleges presidential immunity. The lawyers noted that the charges “revolve around his alleged decision to designate records as personal under the Presidential Records Act (PRA) and move the records from the White House to Mar-a-Lago.” Because Trump made the decision while he was still in office, they wrote, “it was an official act, and it is subject to presidential immunity,” they added. Prosecutors previously described the request for immunity as “frivolous”, pointing out that the conduct alleged in the indictment occurred after Trump left the White House, as he later ignored requests to return the documents.

Cannon gave prosecutors until March 7 to respond to the allegations, which already gives an idea that they will serve to delay the process.

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