Pablo PardoWashington Correspondent
Washington Correspondent
Updated Tuesday, February 6, 2024-16:46
"For the purposes of this criminal case, President Trump has become Citizen
Trump
." The three-judge court of the
Washington Circuit of Appeals
has summarized in that sentence that
Donald Trump can be tried for attempts to steal the
United States elections in 2020.
The sentence theoretically opens the doors for the trial against the former head of State and Government for that reason - which includes the assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021 - to be carried out. The oral hearing had been set for January 4, but precisely the lack of clarity about whether Trump can be tried or not had led the judge who will preside over the trial, Tanya Chutkan, to postpone it. Now, in theory, it could start in April, although
it is assumed that the former president will appeal the sentence before the Supreme Court
, which already has another appeal against Trump due to the decision of the states of Colorado and Maine to prohibit him from participating. present at the elections, precisely due to the insurrection he led after losing the elections in 2020.
The court's ruling explains that Trump can be charged and tried even for alleged crimes he committed while in office. "Any executive immunity that could have protected him when he was serving as president does not protect him against this indictment," states the 55-page ruling, which has just been made public in Washington. Trump's defense insists that the president is not responsible under the law, to the point that he could order the Armed Forces to murder American citizens and go unpunished, according to his lawyers.