Court's Immunity Ruling To Affect Two Trump Cases

WASHINGTON - Feb. 6, 2024 - PRLog -- The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has ruled that former president Donald Trump is not immune from criminal prosecution for actions he took as president involves the federal prosecution of Trump by special counsel Jack Smith.

But the decision is likely to also have a profound impact on the criminal case now pending against Trump in Georgia, says public interest law professor John Banzhaf, whose complaint triggered that equally worrisome proceeding.
Law Professor's Complaint Leads to Investigation Into Trump's 'Find 11,800 Votes' Call (https://www.law.com/dailyreportonline/2021/02/09/law-professors-complaint-leads-to-investigation-into-trumps-find-11800-votes-call/)

Indeed, notes Banzhaf, Trump's lawyers made virtually the same legal arguments in a motion filed earlier in the Georgia case.

But their argument for presidential immunity in state courts seems to have been undercut not only by today's ruling, but also by the Supreme Court's decision in rejecting, by 7-2, Trump's claim of immunity in seeking to rebuff a New York state subpoena for his business and tax records.

The D.C. Circuit's determination that Trump does not have the presidential immunity he claims is likely to derail all or at least a major part of the criminal proceeding now moving forward against him in Georgia.

This ruling against Trump's claim greatly strengthens Fulton County Prosecutor Fanni Willis' criminal case; not only by undercutting a major legal defense, but also by causing the additional named defendants to agree to flip and testify against him because their chances of receiving a lengthy prison sentence have just substantially increased.

JOHN F. BANZHAF III, B.S.E.E., J.D., Sc.D.
Professor of Public Interest Law Emeritus
George Washington University Law School
"The Man Behind the Ban on Cigarette Commercials"
FAMRI Dr. William Cahan Distinguished Professor
Fellow, World Technology Network
Founder, Action on Smoking and Health (ASH)
Inventor of the "Banzhaf Index"
(202) 994-7229 // (703) 527-8418
http://banzhaf.net/   jbanzhaf3ATgmail.com   @profbanzhaf