Lawyers for former President Donald Trump have filed a motion to dismiss the federal election subversion case against him, arguing that he has "presidential immunity" from prosecution for official acts committed during his tenure at the White House.

What You Need To Know

  • Lawyers for former President Donald Trump have filed a motion to dismiss the federal election subversion case against him, arguing that he has "presidential immunity" from prosecution for official acts committed during his tenure at the White House
  • Trump was charged in August with four felonies alleging that he sought to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, which culminated in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol
  • The argument by his defense team will set up a judicial dispute over the limits of presidential power, likely resulting in a court battle over whether his attempt to stay in power was within the scope of the presidency or strayed outside his government authorities and crossed the line into illegal territory
  • In Florida, his legal team asked a judge on Wednesday to postpone a separate trial centered on his handling of classified documents until after the 2024 presidential election
  • Trump has pleaded not guilty to all 91 felonies he faces across the four criminal cases and denied wrongdoing in a civil fraud trial targeting his business empire

Attorneys for Trump argue that he has "absolute immunity" for actions considered to be within "outer perimeter" of his official duties as president, including his efforts to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss to Joe Biden — a plot prosecutors have argued violated federal law.

"Breaking 234 years of precedent, the incumbent administration has charged President Trump for acts that lie not just within the “outer perimeter,” but at the heart of his official responsibilities as President," Trump's defense team wrote in the court filing. "In doing so, the prosecution does not, and cannot, argue that President Trump’s efforts to ensure election integrity, and to advocate for the same, were outside the scope of his duties."

"Instead, the prosecution falsely claims that President Trump’s motives were impure — that he purportedly 'knew' that the widespread reports of fraud and election irregularities were untrue but sought to address them anyway," the filing continues. "But as the Constitution, the Supreme Court, and hundreds of years of history and tradition all make clear, the President’s motivations are not for the prosecution or this Court to decide. Rather, where, as here, the President’s actions are within the ambit of his office, he is absolutely immune from prosecution."

Trump was charged in August in a four-count indictment alleging that he sought to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, which culminated in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges and has alleged that the case is politically motivated.

The argument by his defense team will set up a judicial dispute over the limits of presidential power, likely resulting in a battle over whether his attempt to stay in power was within the scope of the presidency or strayed outside his government authorities and crossed the line into illegal territory.

The presidential immunity argument had been foreshadowed for weeks by defense lawyers as one of multiple challenges they intend to bring against the indictment. A judge had set a deadline for Monday for pretrial motions like the one to dismiss the case.

In the August indictment, prosecutors lead by special counsel Jack Smith, a former war crimes prosecutor tasked with overseeing federal investigations into the former president, wrote that while a president is legally allowed to challenge the results of the election and even lie about election fraud — as Trump did — candidates are not allowed to undermine Americans right to have their vote counted, obstruct "the federal government function by which those results are collected, counted, and certified," nor obstruct the official congressional proceeding on Jan. 6, 2021, to certify the 2020 election results.

"The Defendant had a right, like every American, to speak publicly about the election and even to claim, falsely, that there had been outcome-determinative fraud during the election and that he had won," they wrote. "He was also entitled to formally challenge the results of the election through lawful and appropriate means, such as by seeking recounts or audits of the popular vote in states or filing lawsuits challenging ballots and procedures."

But, prosecutors wrote, "shortly after election day, the Defendant also pursued unlawful means of discounting legitimate votes and subverting the election results. In so doing, the Defendant perpetrated three criminal conspiracies."

Prosecutors are expected to vigorously contest Thursday's motion. It is not clear when U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan might rule, but arguments over the motion — including an appeal if she denies the request — could delay the case.

“Every action of the Defendant charged in the indictment occurred while he was still in office as President of the United States, and, according to the prosecution, all concerned a federal government function,” Trump's defense attorneys wrote. "Given the all-consuming nature of the Presidency, these facts alone strongly support the notion that the indictment is based solely on President Trump’s official acts.”

Trump’s tweets and public statements about fraud in the election and Vice President Mike Pence’s role in the certification were directly related to his assertion that the election’s outcome was tainted by fraud and that the Justice Department and certain states had failed to adequately investigate it, Trump’s lawyers wrote.

The meetings detailed in the indictment with Justice Department officials also fall within his official duties because he was urging his Justice Department “to do more to enforce the laws that it is charged with enforcing,” they argued.

Prosecutors have alleged that Trump knew the claims he was pushing about election fraud were false but did so anyway in an effort to undermine the integrity of the democratic process. But Trump’s lawyers say “the president’s motivations are not for the prosecution or this Court to decide.”

The Washington, D.C., federal indictment is one of four criminal cases Trump has been charged in, including another federal case brought by Smith in Florida regarding the former president's handling of classified documents after leaving the White House, a New York state-level case surrounding alleged hush money payments to two women who said they had extramarital affairs with him, and a Georgia state-level racketeering prosecution alleging the aspects of the plot by Trump and 18 of his allies to place the state in his column after he lost in November 2020 were criminal.

The 2024 GOP frontrunner also spent time in a New York City courtroom this week, fighting a civil fraud trial targeting his business empire brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James, a frequent legal and political foil of Trump's.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to all 91 felonies he faces across the four criminal cases and denied wrongdoing in the civil trial.

In the New York criminal case, where he faces charges of falsifying business records, Trump's lawyers have separetely sought dismissal. In court papers made public late Wednesday, they accused prosecutors of reviving a so-called “zombie case” to interfere with his comeback campaign for the White House and argued that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat, only brought the case because of politics.

And in Florida, his legal team asked a judge on Wednesday to postpone the classified documents trial until after the 2024 presidential election because of scheduling conflicts with other trials and frustration that they have not recieved all the records from the prosecution they need to mount a defense.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.