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Former President Donald Trump<\/strong> is not immune from prosecution for his attempts to overturn the 2020 election, US District Judge Tanya Chutkan<\/strong> ruled Friday.<\/p>\n Chutkan didn\u2019t mince words in her ruling, writing that the presidency \u201cdoes not confer a lifelong \u2018get-out-of-jail-free\u2019 pass\u201d and that Trump\u2019s \u201cfour-year service as commander in chief did not bestow on him the divine right of kings to evade the criminal accountability that governs his fellow citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n The historic ruling marks the first time a US court has determined that a president can be charged with crimes when out of office, Reuters<\/a> noted. \u201cFormer presidents enjoy no special conditions on their federal criminal liability,\u201d the judge concluded. \u201cDefendant may be subject to federal investigation, indictment, prosecution, conviction, and punishment for any criminal acts undertaken while in office.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s lawyers aren\u2019t expecting their Hail Mary motion to be successful in requesting sweeping immunity privileges for their client, who faces<\/a> 91 charges across four criminal cases in the midst of a run for the 2024 White House. The New York Times<\/em> reported<\/a> Friday that the former president\u2019s legal team has \u201cbeen planning for weeks to use the defeat to begin a long-shot strategy to put off the impending trial,\u201d which is set to begin in March, just one day before the Super Tuesday primaries.<\/p>\n Friday\u2019s ruling will likely spark an appeal to a three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals, then to the full Court of Appeals, and ultimately to the Supreme Court, if possible. Trump\u2019s lawyers hope these delays will push the trial past the US presidential election on November 5, 2024.<\/p>\n Chutkan also addressed Trump\u2019s lawyers\u2019 claims that shielding the president\u2019s actions from legal scrutiny was based on longstanding American political traditions and constitutional principles. \u201cAs the Constitution, the Supreme Court, and hundreds of years of history and tradition all make clear, the President\u2019s motivations are not for the prosecution or this Court to decide,\u201d Trump\u2019s attorneys wrote in their motion to dismiss the election subversion case, citing \u201c234 years of precedent.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTo the contrary,\u201d Chutkan coolly replied in her ruling, \u201cAmerica\u2019s founding generation envisioned a Chief Executive wholly different from the unaccountable, almost omnipotent rulers of other nations at that time.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung<\/strong> responded to the ruling by saying it is an effort by Trump\u2019s opponents \u201cto try and destroy bedrock constitutional principles and set dangerous precedents that would cripple future presidential administrations and our country as a whole, in their desperate effort to interfere in the 2024 Presidential Election.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe corrupt leftists will fail, and President Trump will keep fighting for America and Americans, including by challenging these wrongful decisions in higher courts,\u201d Cheung added.<\/p>\n Chutkan\u2019s ruling wasn\u2019t the only legal blow dealt to the Trump campaign Friday. A federal appeals court ruled<\/a> earlier in the day that civil lawsuits against Trump for inciting the January 6 Capitol riot can move forward. Some Democratic lawmakers and Capitol police officers have brought the lawsuits. The former president is also likely to appeal that decision.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n