Live updates: Court rules Trump does not have immunity from prosecution (2024)

A federal appeals court on Tuesday said that Donald Trump isnot immune from prosecutionfor alleged crimes he committed during his presidency, flatly rejecting Trump’s arguments that he shouldn’t have to go on trial on federal election subversion charges.

Here are somekey takeaways from Tuesday's decision:

Trump’s behavior after the 2020 election could be criminal: The judges made it clear that Trump's actions could be prosecuted in a court of law.

"Vital public interest" of letting trial proceed weighed heavily on the court: The judges cited the public interest in accountability for potential crimes committed by a former president, and how that overcame Trump’s argument that immunity was necessary to protect the institution of the presidency. They flatly rejected Trump’s claim that his criminal indictment would have a “chilling effect” on future administrations.

Trial timing will be up to the Supreme Court: A key part of Trump’slegal strategy has been to delay his criminal cases until after the 2024 election. Now, the trial's timing will be in the hands of the Supreme Court. If Trump is successful with getting the Supreme Court to hear the appeal, the criminal trial would not resume until after the high court decides what to do with his request for a pause.

One paragraph in Tuesday’s ruling has caught the attention of legal experts who are also watching the14thAmendment “insurrectionist ban” casethat is being argued at the Supreme Court on Thursday.

The cases are entirely separate – this is a criminal prosecution against Donald Trump, and the upcoming Supreme Court case is a civil attempt to remove Trump from state ballots. Further, the appeals court’s findings and explanations in Tuesday’s ruling are not binding on the Supreme Court.

Nonetheless, the appeals ruling refers described the president as an “officer.” There is an open legal question – being argued Thursday before the Supreme Court – over whether the presidency is an “office… under the United States” and whether the presidency is an “officer,” as described in the insurrectionist ban.

The appeals ruling said: “It would be a striking paradox if the President, who alone is vested with the constitutional duty to ‘take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed,’ were the sole officer capable of defying those laws with impunity.”

The Supreme Court could “back away” from taking on former President Donald Trump’s appeal due to upcoming cases that are already “very politically charged” in nature, according to CNN’s senior Supreme Court analyst Joan Biskupic.

A federal appeals court in Washington, DC, has given Trump until February 12 to ask the Supreme Court to block their ruling about whether he is immune from criminal prosecution.

If the Supreme Court decides to hear the case, it could be several more weeks or months before a decision is made.

The court isalreadyset to hear arguments on Thursday on whether the 14th Amendment would remove Trump from state ballots under the “insurrectionist ban” in the amendment.

Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday criticized what he called the "nation-destroying" ruling from the federal appeals court that said Trump is not immunefrom prosecution for alleged crimes he committed during his presidency to reverse the 2020 election results.

Trump, in a Truth Social post, said that "a President of the United States must have Full Immunity in order to properly function and do what has to be done for the good of our Country," calling for the ruling to be overturned.

"A President will be afraid to act for fear of the opposite Party’s Vicious Retribution after leaving Office," he posted, saying that "it will become a Political Weapon."

What the appeals court said: In theopinion, the judges found that if proven, the former president’s efforts to usurp the 2020 presidential election were an "unprecedented assault on the structure of our government."The judges also flatly rejected Trump’s claim that his criminal indictment would have a “chilling effect” on future presidents.

In rejecting Trump’s immunity arguments, the appeals panel also said the public interest in holding a potentially criminal president accountable outweighed the potential negative impacts on the office of the presidency.

In its ruling that former President Donald Trump does not have presidential immunity in the January 6 case, a federal appeals court said his immunity claims would reject "the most fundamental check on executive power."

In addition, they said that Trump's stance "would collapse our system of separated powers by placing the President beyond the reach of all three Branches."

Throughout their opinion, Judges J. Michelle Childs, Florence Pan and Karen LeCraft Henderson repeatedly eviscerated former President Donald Trump’s behavior after the 2020 presidential election as unpresidential and constituting an assault on an American institutions.

“Former President Trump lacked any lawful discretionary authority to defy federal criminal law and he is answerable in court for his conduct,” the panel of judges wrote.

Their scathing opinion describes the former president as using his seat of power to “unlawfully overstay his term as President and to displace his duly elected successor,” all which would violate “generally applicable criminal laws.”

Even his stances in court, the judges wrote, stand in contrast to the principle that all Americans – including former presidents – are subject to the same laws.

The DC Circuit Court of Appeals has made a forceful finding in its opinion that it is the federal courts' responsibility to handle the criminal prosecution of a former president.

One question that has come up repeatedly in this case is if the court system has the ability to try a former president who faced an impeachment proceeding in Congress, and if they can look at the presidential immunity question before a trial.

On both fronts, the appellate judges said they could.

While a president and even others in the government, like legislators and judges, could be protected from lawsuits, they can be criminally prosecuted, the court said.

The Trump 2024 campaign responded to the ruling that former President Donald Trump is not immune from prosecution for alleged crimes he committed during his presidency to reverse the 2020 election results.

"If immunity is not granted to a President, every future President who leaves office will be immediately indicted by the opposing party. Without complete immunity, a President of the United States would not be able to properly function!" according to the campaign's Steven Cheung.

Cheung said Trump would be appealing the decision.

The campaign also issued a fundraising appeal after the ruling.

The appeals court has set up a very fast schedule for Donald Trump to ask the Supreme Court to block their ruling rejecting his claims of immunity from criminal prosecution.

The court is giving Trump until February 12 to file an emergency stay request with the Supreme Court, which would stop the clock while his attorneys craft a more substantive appeal on the merits. If he is successful with that, the criminal trial will not resume until after the high court decides what to do with his request for a pause.

If Trump does not appeal the ruling, the case would be sent back to the trial-level court in Washington, DC, as soon as next week for his trial to continue.

Special counsel Jack Smith’s office declined to comment.