Lawyers say ā€˜allegedly improperā€™ behavior by president falls within ā€˜outer perimeterā€™ of duties and is protected from prosecution

Lawyers say ā€˜allegedly improperā€™ behavior by president falls within ā€˜outer perimeterā€™ of duties and is protected from prosecution

Lawyers for Donald Trump have urged a federal judge to dismiss the criminal case over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, advancing a sweeping interpretation of executive power that contends that former presidents are immune from prosecution for conduct related to their duties while in office.

The request to throw out the indictment, handed up earlier this year by a federal grand jury in Washington, amounts to the most consequential court filing in the case to date and is almost certain to precipitate a legal battle that could end up before the US supreme court.

In their 52-page submission to the presiding US district judge, Tanya Chutkan, Trumpā€™s lawyers essentially argued that Trump enjoyed absolute immunity from criminal prosecution because the charged conduct fell within the so-called ā€œouter perimeterā€ of his duties as president.

The filing contended that all of Trumpā€™s attempts to reverse his 2020 election defeat in the indictment, from pressuring his vice-president, Mike Pence, to stop the congressional certification to organizing fake slates of electors, were in his capacity as president and therefore protected.

Whether Trumpā€™s motion to dismiss succeeds remains uncertain: it raises novel legal issues, such as whether the outer perimeter test applies to criminal cases, and whether Trumpā€™s charged conduct even falls within a presidentā€™s duties.

  • bassomitron@lemmy.worldEnglish
    9Ā·
    1 year ago

    In 1982, the Supreme Court held in Nixon v. Fitzgerald that the president enjoys absolute immunity from civil litigation for official acts undertaken while in office.[11] The Court suggested that this immunity was broad (though not limitless), applying to acts within the ā€œouter perimeterā€ of the presidentā€™s official duties.[11] Fifteen years after Fitzgerald, the Supreme Court held in Clinton v. Jones that the president does not possess absolute immunity from civil litigation surrounding acts he carried out that were not part of his official duties (which is often incorrectly presented as referring only to acts carried out before becoming president).[12][13] The 2020 Supreme Court decision in Trump v. Vance held that the president is subject to subpoenas in criminal prosecutions for personal conduct with the same legal threshold as anyone else.

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absolute_immunity

    You were saying?

    • Dkarma@lemmy.world
      115Ā·
      1 year ago

      Sued by stormy Daniels while pres and lost. You were saying?

      Your own link proves you wrong. It says they u canā€™t bring civil litigation for acts he committed while in office not that you cant bring civil suits against a standing president at all.

      • bassomitron@lemmy.worldEnglish
        8Ā·
        1 year ago

        Wrong again. Read what I quoted closely. He got sued by Stormy for things he did that were not considered presidential duties. Additionally, it was for things he did before becoming president. Lastly, in Vance v Trump it straight up says that the president is not immune from criminal subpoenas. Fucking hell, man, reading comprehension.