Trump is making the sweeping argument that former presidents enjoy absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for any “official acts” taken while in office. Furthermore, his lawyers argued in their briefs that prosecuting Trump over actions for which he was already impeached and acquitted in the Senate following an impeachment proceeding would be a form of double jeopardy.
“The indictment of President Trump threatens to launch cycles of discrimination and politically motivated prosecution that will plague our nation for many decades to come and stands likely to shatter the very bedrock of our Republic,” Trump’s lawyers wrote in court papers.
They argue that Trump’s role in questioning the outcome of the election was within the “outer perimeter” of his official responsibilities as president, citing a 1982 Supreme Court ruling about presidential immunity in a civil case.
The special counsel’s office argues that the well-established concept of presidential immunity from civil liability for official acts does not extend to immunity from criminal liability.
“No historical materials support the defendant’s broad immunity claim,” Smith wrote in court papers. The fact that President Richard Nixon sought and received a pardon after resigning from office as a result of the Watergate scandal “reflects the consensus
