Former President Donald Trump argued that the country will be “irreparably” damaged if the Supreme Court does not affirm that presidents are immune from criminal prosecution for official acts.

The Supreme Court is set to consider in April Trump’s bid to dismiss his federal election interference case based on presidential immunity. Trump’s attorneys wrote in their opening brief filed Tuesday that the president cannot function or retain the role’s “vital independence” if he faces prosecution for official acts after leaving office.

“A denial of criminal immunity would incapacitate every future President with de facto blackmail and extortion while in office, and condemn him to years of post-office trauma at the hands of political opponents,” the brief continues. “The threat of future prosecution and imprisonment would become a political cudgel to influence the most sensitive and controversial Presidential decisions, taking away the strength, authority, and decisiveness of the Presidency.”

The brief states that there is no historical precedent for prosecuting a president for official acts. It argues that a former president can only be criminally prosecuted if he has been convicted by the Senate after impeachment.

“Indeed, if immunity is not recognized, every future President will be forced to grapple with the prospect of possibly being criminally prosecuted after leaving office every time he or she makes a politically controversial decision,” the brief states. “That would be the end of the Presidency as we know it and would irreparably damage our Republic.”

Trump was indicted in August on four counts related to his conduct surrounding the 2020 election. His trial in the district court remains on hold until the Supreme Court issues its decision.

District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan first rejected Trump’s immunity argument in December, and the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed Trump was not immune from prosecution in early February.

Katelynn Richardson on March 19, 2024