Trump's Presidential Immunity Defense Suffers Devastating Defeat

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A federal court ruled that Donald Trump can’t claim presidential immunity to avoid E. Jean Carroll lawsuit. This is the third time in the last few weeks that Trump’s presidential immunity defense was rejected.

Politico reported:

It’s the third time in recent weeks that federal courts have rejected immunity arguments from Trump as he battles multiple legal fronts in criminal and civil cases.

The ruling paves the way for Carroll’s lawsuit to proceed to trial in January. The case concerns comments Trump made about Carroll in 2019, shortly after Carroll came forward and accused Trump of raping her decades earlier. Trump said Carroll was peddling a false accusation and was motivated by money.

The court ruled that Trump waited too long to invoke the defense.

Donald Trump has been harboring the delusion for years that he has unlimited presidential immunity from any and all prosecutions for the rest of his life. The courts have told Trump that presidential immunity only applies to the sitting president, and does not give ex-presidents lifetime immunity.

The former president defamed E. Jean Carroll, but the defamation was not a part of his official presidential duties.
The Supreme Court will be ruling on whether or not Trump has immunity from the federal 1/6 related prosecution where he is currently a defendant. Given how every single previous lower court has ruled against Trump’s immunity claims, it is unlikely that a conservative majority that has shown itself to be hostile toward expanding executive power will view Trump’s immunity claims favorably.

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Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

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