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Constitutional Law Keyed to Levinson
Trump v. United States
Citation:
603 U.S. 593 (2024)Facts
Donald J. Trump served as President from January 2017 until January 2021. On August 1, 2023, a federal grand jury indicted him on four counts for conduct occurring during his presidency following the November 2020 election. The indictment alleged that after losing the election, Trump conspired to overturn it by spreading knowingly false claims of election fraud to obstruct the collecting, counting, and certifying of election results. According to the indictment, Trump advanced this goal through five primary means: (1) using false fraud claims to pressure state legislators and election officials to change electoral votes; (2) organizing fraudulent slates of electors in seven targeted states; (3) attempting to use the Justice Department to conduct sham investigations and send letters falsely claiming the Department had identified significant election concerns; (4) attempting to persuade the Vice President to use his ceremonial role at the January 6 certification to fraudulently alter results; and (5) when that failed, exploiting the Capitol violence to further delay certification. Trump moved to dismiss based on presidential immunity, arguing all alleged conduct fell within his official duties and that a President has absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for actions within the outer perimeter of his official responsibilities.
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