A D.C. judge has rejected former US leader Donald Trump’s request to dismiss the criminal case over his role in the 2021 storming of the Capitol on the basis of presidential immunity.
The judge’s decision states that immunity does not give the right to lifelong release from prison, the Associated Press reports. “Former presidents do not have special conditions for federal criminal liability,” the judge presiding over the trial noted in the ruling.
She also rejected Trump’s motion to dismiss the case based on the First Amendment of the US Constitution, which guarantees, among other things, freedom of speech and assembly. “It is well established that the First Amendment does not protect speech that has been used as an instrument of crime,” the judge said.
Previously, Trump was charged in the case of storming the Capitol on four counts, on two of which he faces up to 20 years in prison. The former president did not admit his guilt.
Last fall, the Supreme Court rejected an appeal of a lower court’s decision to bar Trump from running for president in 2024.
Let us remember that the incident for which Trump is being tried occurred on January 6, 2021. Then the politician’s supporters stormed the Capitol, demanding the cancellation of the election results, in which he lost to Joe Biden.
Source: Rosbalt
Mario Twitchell is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his insightful and thought-provoking writing on a wide range of topics including general and opinion. He currently works as a writer at 247 news agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
