WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Donald Trump indicated on Thursday that he would appeal a U.S. judge’s ruling last week that the former president does not have immunity from criminal charges for actions he took while in office.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan rejected Trump’s bid to dismiss the federal case accusing him of illegally plotting to overturn his loss to Democrat Joe Biden in the 2020 U.S. election.
Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican nomination to challenge Biden in the 2024 election, argued that he could not be prosecuted because the criminal conduct alleged by prosecutors related to official actions he took as president.
Chutkan rejected that argument, finding no legal authority for the notion that presidents could not face criminal charges after leaving office.
Unlike most pre-trial rulings in criminal cases, Chutkan’s order can be immediately appealed. Trump’s lawyers, in a separate legal filing, argued that the entire case should automatically be halted until the appeal is resolved.
The case, brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith, accuses Trump of attempting to obstruct Congress and defraud the U.S. government through schemes to overturn his defeat in the 2020 election. Trump has pleaded not guilty and accused prosecutors of attempting to damage his 2024 campaign.
(Reporting by Andrew Goudsward and Kanishka Singh; Editing by Will Dunham)
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