Former US President Donald Trump’s attorney has argued that the country “may never recover” if a Washington DC appeals court allows a case against the ex-president to go ahead. The government contends that Trump can be criminally charged over a speech he gave while in office.
Trump arrived at the federal court on Tuesday, where a panel of three judges heard arguments as to whether a former president can be held criminally liable for actions taken while in office. Their eventual decision will determine whether Trump can be tried on three counts of conspiracy for a speech he gave before his supporters rioted at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Government prosecutor Jack Smith charged Trump in August, claiming that the speech – in which he urged his supporters to “fight like hell” against President Joe Biden’s electoral victory – provoked the riot.
“To authorize the prosecution of a president for his official acts would open a Pandora’s box from which this nation may never recover,” Trump’s attorney, John Sauer, said at the start of the hearing.