Donald Trump no longer has presidential immunity and can be prosecuted for his attempts to subvert the 2020 vote, culminating in the storming of the Capitol.
The capital's federal appeals court deals a heavy blow to the tycoon, who however announces a further appeal destined to reach the Supreme Court.
In the meantime, against the backdrop of caucuses and primaries without duels heading to Nevada, he challenges Joe Biden to an immediate debate, who however attacks him from the pulpit of the White House, accusing him of intimidating Republicans to scuttle the "toughest and most humane law ever" on security on the border with Mexico.
The appeal court's decision, taken unanimously, is categorical and does not appear to be easily overturned.
The defense argument that Trump is immune from criminal liability for actions taken when he was in the White House, the panel writes, is "not supported by precedent, history, or the text and structure of the Constitution."
“For purposes of this criminal proceeding, former President Trump has become a Trump citizen, with all the defenses of any other defendant in a criminal proceeding,” the judges explain, underlining that “any executive immunity that might have protected him while he was president does not protects him more."
“We cannot accept the proposition that a president has unlimited authority to commit crimes that would neutralize the most fundamental check on executive power: the recognition and enforcement of election results,” they continue, warning that Trump’s argument “would collapse our system of separation of powers by placing the president beyond the reach of all three branches" of the system.
The tycoon's defense has announced an appeal, evoking the risk of an interminable spiral of political investigations: "If a president is not granted immunity, any future president who leaves office will be immediately indicted by the opposing party", warned the Attorney Steven Cheung.
A warning that in Trump's comments on his social network Truth has already become a threat not only against Biden but also against Clinton, Bush and Obama.
The tycoon has until February 12 to appeal the sentence, first before the entire court of appeal and then at the Supreme Court, where he can count on a majority of conservative judges (6 to 3): the minimum objective is to delay the The start of the hearing which had been set for March 4th but which has already been adjourned to a later date due to the pending immunity issue.
Meanwhile on Thursday the nine wise men will also examine the former president's appeal against the exclusion from running for office in Colorado on the basis of the 14th amendment, which prohibits officials involved in insurrections or revolts against the constitution on which they were sworn from holding public office: the decision on his eligibility will also serve as a precedent for all other cases pending in various states.
To Trump's challenge to a debate, Biden responded sarcastically: "If I were him, I'd want to debate him, too. He's got nothing to do."
But the president would risk stumbling upon slips and gaffes, such as the one in which he confused Macron with "Mitterrand", even citing him as "president of Germany", while telling an anecdote about the G7.
However, two factors that have hitherto hampered him in the polls could play in his favour: the record recovery of the economy and the possibility of dumping the migration crisis on the border with Mexico on the Republicans (for which they vote to impeach the Minister of the Interior) if they will not approve the bipartisan agreement for radical reform, also promoted by conservative media such as the Wall Street Journal.
In this case, however, there would remain the risk that not even the funds for Kiev will be approved, opening up another big foreign policy problem for the commander in chief, in addition to the war in the Middle East: "Time is running out, if we don't stop his desire of conquest against Ukraine, Putin will not stop there,” Biden warned.
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