Donald Trump does not have presidential immunity and can be prosecuted on charges of plotting to overturn the 2020 election, a US court has ruled.

Mr Trump had claimed in the landmark legal case that he was immune from criminal charges for acts he said fell within his duties as president.

°°°¶

“We cannot accept former President Trump’s claim that a president has unbounded authority to commit crimes that would neutralise the most fundamental check on executive power - the recognition and implementation of election results,” the three-judge panel from the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit wrote in its opinion.

It added: “For the purpose of this criminal case, former President Trump has become citizen Trump, with all of the defences of any other criminal defendant.”

°°¶

“If immunity is not granted to a president, every future president who leaves office will be immediately indicted by the opposing party,” Mr Cheung said. “Without complete immunity, a president of the United States would not be able to properly function.”