Judge rejects Trump’s bid to dismiss 2020 election interference case
The case, which centers on allegations that Trump spearheaded a widespread effort to overturn the results of the presidential election he lost to Joe Biden, returned to federal court in Washington DC after a Supreme Court ruling in part granted immunity from prosecution.
RadarOnline.com can reveal that Judge Chutkan said Trump’s legal team had anticipated “no meaningful evidence” the former president had been prosecuted for “vindictive and political purposes”.
The former president has denied any wrongdoing and has previously claimed the Biden administration is behind the prosecution as part of a “political witch hunt” to influence voters in the 2024 election.
Federal prosecutors have leveled allegations against Trump, alleging he pressured officials to overturn the election results, spread disinformation about election fraud and tried to take advantage of the chaos of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot to block his stay to extend power.
As a result, Trump faces four criminal charges as part of the indictment, including conspiracy to defraud the US and conspiracy against the rights of citizens.
In a motion to dismiss the case following the Supreme Court ruling that Trump would have partial immunity from prosecution, Trump’s lawyers argued that he had been singled out, while other people who questioned the election results had not done.
His lawyers also suggested that Trump’s political opponents launched the prosecution to prevent him from winning re-election.
The judge rejected both arguments, with Chutkan writing in her ruling that Trump was charged not only for disputing the results, but for “knowingly making false statements in furtherance of criminal conspiracy and for obstruction of election certification proceedings.”
Judge Chutkan scheduled another hearing for August 16 to discuss the next steps of the criminal proceedings.
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The United States Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that Trump has “partial immunity” from criminal prosecution for “official acts” while in office.
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the conservative majority opinion: “The President does not have immunity for his unofficial actions, and not everything the President does is official. The president is not above the law. But Congress may not criminalize the president’s conduct in carrying out the president’s responsibilities. Executive power under the Constitution.”
“The President should therefore not be prosecuted for exercising his core constitutional powers, and he is at least entitled to presumptive immunity from prosecution for all his official acts. That immunity applies equally to all occupants of the Oval Office, regardless of politics, policy or party.”
In her written dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor argued that the ruling by the majority, which included three Trump-appointed justices, “makes a mockery of the principle, fundamental to our Constitution and our system of government, that no one is above the law.”
