WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – On Tuesday former President Donald Trump was hit with a legal defeat when a federal appeals court in Washington D.C., ruled he does not have immunity from criminal prosecution.
The three-judge panel unanimously rejected the immunity argument. That allows the federal election interference case against Trump to move forward.
George Washington University Law professor Paul Schiff Berman says he isn’t surprised by the ruling.
“Trump’s claims for immunity were legally incredibly far-fetched,” Berman said. “A president is not a king and is subject to criminal prosecution just like anyone else.”
Former President Trump attacked the court’s ruling in a post on his TruthSocial account calling it ‘So bad, and so dangerous for our Nation.’
Trump’s allies in Congress rushed to defend him.
Congresswoman Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) says all of the legal charges he’s facing are part of a political attack.
“All of the bogus cases against President Trump are plain and simple election interference,” Boebert said.
Senator Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) predicted those cases won’t hurt the former president’s re-election campaign.
“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger and this is going to make President Trump stronger,” Marshall said.
Trump’s campaign says his lawyers will appeal this decision to the Supreme Court.
If the justices do take up the case, Berman expects them to also rule against Trump though he says the timing is really significant.