Special counsel Jack Smith urged a federal appeals court Saturday to reject former President Donald Trump's claims that he is immune from prosecution, saying the suggestion that he cannot be held to account for crimes in office "threatens the democratic and constitutional foundation" of the country.
The filing from Smith's team was submitted ahead of arguments next month on the legally untested question of whether a former president can be prosecuted for acts taken while in the White House.
Though the matter is now being considered by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, it's likely to come again before the Supreme Court, which earlier this month rejected prosecutors' request for a speedy ruling in their favor holding that Trump can be forced to stand trial on charges that he plotted to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
The outcome of the dispute is critical for both sides especially since the case has been effectively paused while Trump advances his immunity claims in the appeals court.
Prosecutors are hoping a swift judgment rejecting those arguments will restart the case and keep it on track for trial, currently scheduled for March 4 in federal court in Washington. But Trump's lawyers stand to benefit from a protracted appeals process that could significantly delay the case and potentially push it beyond the November election.
Trump's lawyers maintain that the appeals court should order the dismissal of the case, arguing that as a former president he is exempt from prosecution for acts that fell within his official duties as president.
Smith's team has said no such immunity exists in the Constitution or in case law and that, in any event, the actions that Trump took in his failed effort to cling to power aren't part of a president's official responsibilities.
The four-count indictment charges Trump with conspiring to disrupt the certification in Congress of electoral votes on Jan. 6, 2021, when rioters motivated by his falsehoods about the election results stormed the U.S. Capitol in a violent clash with police. It alleges that he participated in a scheme to enlist slates of fake electors in battleground states who would falsely attest that Trump had won those states and encouraged then-Vice President Mike Pence to thwart the counting of votes.
Those actions, prosecutors wrote, fall well outside a president's official duties and were intended solely to help him win reelection.
"A President who unlawfully seeks to retain power through criminal means unchecked by potential criminal prosecution could jeopardize both the Presidency itself and the very foundations of our democratic system of government officials to use fraudulent means to thwart the transfer of power and remain in office," Smith's team wrote.
In their brief, prosecutors also said that though the presidency plays a "vital role in our constitutional system," so, too, does the principle of accountability in the event of wrongdoing.
"Rather than vindicating our constitutional framework, the defendant's sweeping immunity claim threatens to license Presidents to commit crimes to remain in office," they wrote. "The Founders did not intend and would never have countenanced such a result."
While Trump's lawyers have argued that the indictment threatens "the very bedrock of our Republic," prosecutors say the defense has it backwards.
"It is the defendant's claim that he cannot be held to answer for the charges that he engaged in an unprecedented effort to retain power through criminal means, despite having lost the election, that threatens the democratic and constitutional foundation of our Republic," they said.
A three-judge panel is set to hear arguments on Jan. 9. Two of the judges, J. Michelle Childs and Florence Pan, were appointed by President Joe Biden. The third, Karen LeCraft Henderson, was assigned to the bench by former President George H.W. Bush.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan earlier rejected the immunity arguments, asserting that the office of the presidency does not confer a "'get-out-of-jail free card." Trump's lawyers then appealed that decision, prompting Smith to seek to bypass the court and request an expedited decision from the Supreme Court.
The justices last week denied that request without explanation, leaving the matter with the appeals court.
Trump faces three other criminal prosecutions. He is charged in Florida with illegally retaining classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate and faces a state prosecution in Georgia that accuses him of trying to subvert that state's 2020 presidential election and a New York case that accuses him of falsifying business records in connection with a hush money payment to a porn actress.
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Associated Press writer Alanna Durkin Richer in Boston contributed to this report.
Following the re-election of former U.S. president Donald Trump, former finance minister Bill Morneau says the Canadian government should re-evaluate the timing of some cornerstone Liberal policies.
Canada has announced changes to their visitor visa policies, effectively ending the automatic issuance of 10-year multiple-entry visas, according to new rules outlined by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.
A team of tornado experts are investigating a path of damage through Wellington County.
U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris on Monday made their first joint appearance since her U.S. selection loss when they observed Veterans Day together by laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
Across Canada, dignitaries marked Remembrance Day by laying wreaths at ceremonies, school children sang in the late fall chill and veterans recalled the horrors of battle.
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U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is naming longtime adviser Stephen Miller, an immigration hard-liner, to be the deputy chief of policy in his new administration.
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The federal government is urging both sides in the British Columbia port dispute to return to the table after mediated talks broke off on Saturday, the first of three scheduled days.
The union representing some 1,200 dockworkers at the Port of Montreal has overwhelmingly rejected a deal with their employers association.
Israel’s new foreign minister said that there has been 'certain progress' in efforts to end the fighting with Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris on Monday made their first joint appearance since her U.S. selection loss when they observed Veterans Day together by laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
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New York City Mayor Eric Adams is seeking to move up the start of his trial on corruption and bribery charges so he can focus on his campaign for reelection this spring.
A man accused of killing a person and staging it as a fatal bear attack in Tennessee was taken into custody in South Carolina over the weekend on murder charges, in what authorities described as a plot to steal the victim’s identity.
With armed conflict again on their continent, many European leaders marked the end 106 years ago of First World War with warnings that liberty, so often taken as self-evident, should be cherished and defended.
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Murray Sinclair’s family members say the late justice and senator has been laid to rest according to his wishes.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced voters in Cloverdale—Langley City will pick their next member of Parliament on Dec. 16.
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An opponent of vaccines who urged violence against scientists, politicians and public health officials during the COVID-19 pandemic was sentenced Monday.
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Across Canada, dignitaries marked Remembrance Day by laying wreaths at ceremonies, school children sang in the late fall chill and veterans recalled the horrors of battle.
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Environment Canada issued a weather alert for Barrie, Collingwood and surrounding areas, alerting residents about the wicked winds that are expected to pick up to 80 kilometres per hour in the afternoon hours.
After a Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) worker took their own life while on shift at the Ambassador Bridge Saturday, Â鶹´«Ã½ Public Safety Analyst Chris Lewis highlighted the mental health burdens faced daily by law enforcement.
Representatives of the Windsor Veterans Memorial Services Committee, military representatives, wreath bearers, government officials, and members of the public will attend the Cenotaph at City Hall Square for the outdoor service.
Windsor Paralympic champion, Danielle Campo, has been crowned the number one Inspirational Speaker of the Year for 2024 at the Inspirational Speaking Finals.
A B.C. teen has a suspected case of H5N1 avian flu — the first known human to acquire the virus in Canada.
Environment Canada says heavy rain and winds could cause power outages on Vancouver Island as an "intense" storm system is set to hit the B.C. coast Sunday.
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The emergency department at South Okanagan General Hospital in Oliver, B.C., will be closed for 31 hours this weekend, the second such closure in a week and the third since the start of November.
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The Southern Alberta Recreation Association is officially announcing the Town of Taber as next year’s host for the Southern Alberta Summer Games.
The Lethbridge Hurricanes broke open a close game with three goals in the first two minutes of the third period as they defeated the Warriors 7-3 in a game played Friday night in Moose Jaw.
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It was just days before the COVID-19 pandemic shut the world down when the Shaft Bottom Boys of Sudbury broke a world record for 'Deepest Concert Underground.' Now, more than four years later, a Timmins band is looking to take the title.
Police say that a 16-year-old was attacked with a sword Nov. 3 in Cobalt, Ont., in a case of intimate partner violence.
Police in Newfoundland say a man was electrocuted Saturday by a downed power wire about 10 kilometres north of St. John's, N.L.
On Thursday morning, Dave Penny officially ended a suggested hundred-day isolation period that followed his diagnosis and stem cell treatment for non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. On Thursday night, Penny returned to a stage at a downtown St. John's bar, regaling a small crowd with songs and stories with a distinctive Newfoundland flair.
A Memorial University scientist says the mysterious white blobs washing up on Newfoundland beaches are actually gobs of plastic -- and they need to be cleaned up.
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