Op-Ed: ‘Citizen Trump” not immune – If so, there goes the basis of all his cases

Supporters of former US president and 2024 presidential hopeful Donald Trump carry placards as they brave frigid, sub-zero temperatures to attend a rally in Indianola, Iowa, on January 14, 2024 – Copyright KCNA VIA KNS/AFP/File STR

As bombshells go, this is a big one. The Federal Appeals Court unanimously found that Trump could be criminally prosecuted for attempting to overturn the 2020 election.

The heavy hit here is the unanimous ruling. It means that any grounds for appeal have to outweigh the court’s finding, and that won’t be easy. Trump routinely appeals any negative ruling against him, and the appeals are stacking up.

A split decision would have included a dissent from one of the judges forming a possible basis for appeal. That’s not the case with a unanimous ruling. The appeal will have to work on tortuous legal interpretations alone. So far that hasn’t worked well for Trump.

The court did not accept Trump’s assertion that the president has unbounded authority. It also didn’t accept the executive has rights to “violate the rights of individual citizens to vote and to have their votes count.”

More seriously for Trump, the “immunity syndrome” is a foundation principle of his defense across multiple indictments. He’s insisted on his immunity from day one. Those appeals court findings are two rather large spanners in the works for Trump’s entire legal position. He says he can do that; the court says he can’t. There’s no middle ground.

The appeals routine isn’t working for him across the board. As a delaying tactic, it’s running out of steam and credibility. There are too many appeals failing.

Trump’s various legal teams are also getting some very severe stick for their conduct and case handling. That won’t help the appeal. The overall impression is of a sandcastle with the tide coming in. It’s also looking like the courts are getting tired of the theatrical performances by Trump and his lawyers.

The Federal Appeals Court also made the critical point that any immunity when in office doesn’t apply out of office. “Citizen Trump” is still accountable for his actions. This point is a bedrock issue for the courts and the future of the presidency, and it won’t go away.

There is no statutory reason to think a president is “allowed” to commit any crime at all from jaywalking to shooting someone on Fifth Avenue. Why would there be?

Add to this the truly huge legal burden Trump has accumulated. His court schedule looks like an airport flights board. You really do have to see that schedule to grasp how serious the situation is. Each of these cases costs a fortune per hour. None of these cases are going in his favor. He’s stalling, not winning.

It’d require a lot of research to find out if anyone has cluttered up the US legal system more than Trump. So far, not one legal argument has got much if any traction in the last few years. It’s now four years since Jan 6, 2020.

Nothing at all has been achieved. All those indictments are still in place. There are 91 criminal charges to beat. This can’t go on for long.