Donald Trump warned he could sue Joe Biden if he returns to the White House, as his lawyers prepared to argue in a Washington court that he should be immune from criminal charges for trying to take over the US to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
The Republican former US president will not have a chance to speak as his lawyers try to convince three federal appeals court judges that the case should be dismissed before it goes to trial in March.
But with the battle for the Republican presidential nomination set to begin in the states next week, Trump is using the hearing as an opportunity to claim he is a victim of political persecution.
The U.S. Justice Department has long held that sitting presidents cannot be prosecuted for their actions in office, and Trump says the same should apply to former presidents.
If the case continues, Trump said he could sue Democrat Biden if he wins the presidential election in November.
“If I don’t get immunity, then corrupt Joe Biden doesn’t get immunity either,” Trump said in a video posted on social media. “Joe would be willing to be prosecuted.”
Trump, who lost to Biden in the 2020 election, has built a commanding lead over his rivals for the Republican presidential nomination since the first indictment against him was announced last March. He is expected to easily win Monday's contest in Iowa.
In the courtroom, Trump's lawyers are expected to tell a threejudge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit that the case should be dismissed.
They argued that prosecuting former presidents “would trigger cycles of recriminations and politically motivated prosecutions.”
Special counsel Jack Smith, who is overseeing the case, argued that granting such broad legal protection would give future presidents permission to commit crimes such as accepting bribes or directing the FBI to collect evidence against political opponents.
Smith argued that Trump acted as a candidate, not a president, when he pressured authorities to overturn the election results and encouraged his supporters to march on the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Both the legal outcome and the timing of the appeals court's ruling will play a key role in whether Trump is tried before the November 5, 2024 election.
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