Trump Claim Is a Threat to Democracy, Smith Tells Court

Special counsel Jack Smith's office asked an appeals court on Saturday to deny Donald Trump's argument that the former president is immune from criminal charges in his election interference case, saying that such a protection would "threaten to undermine democracy." Federal prosecutors filed their brief with the DC Circuit Court of Appeals in response to Trump's contentions that he's immune under the Constitution because he was in office at the time and he was acquitted by the Senate in his impeachment trial over accusations that he tried to overturn election results, Politico reports.

"Rather than vindicating our constitutional framework, the defendant's sweeping immunity claim threatens to license Presidents to commit crimes to remain in office," the brief says. "The Founders did not intend and would never have countenanced such a result." Trump's appeal concerns an issue the courts haven't decided, or even been asked about, per the New York Times; no president has been charged with crimes before, much less presented an immunity defense.

The trial has been scheduled for March but is being held up until Trump's attempt to have the charges dismissed is resolved; arguments on the immunity claim are scheduled to be heard by a three-judge panel on Jan. 9, per the AP. "The presidency plays a vital role in our constitutional system, but so does the principle of accountability for criminal acts—particularly those that strike at the heart of the democratic process," the prosecutors' 82-page brief says. Trump's lawyers have argued that it's the indictment of the former president that threatens "the very bedrock of our Republic." (More election interference indictment stories.)