A federal appeals court has ruled that Donald Trump does not have “immunity” from prosecution for crimes committed while in office, landing another major blow to his efforts to evade criminal charges brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith for his attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
His attorneys are expected to swiftly appeal to the full bench of appeals court judges, or up to the US Supreme Court, teeing up another major constitutional test involving Mr Trump’s campaign at the nation’s highest court.
Reacting to the news, the former president called the court’s decision “nation-destroying”.
The ruling comes after new polling from CNN that found that most Americans believe there should be a verdict on Mr Trump’s election subversion charges ahead of November’s presidential election.
Meanwhile, in an interview with Newsmax, the former president suggested that the US no longer had “free and fair elections” and called the country “pathetic”.
In other remarks, he also appeared to signal the end of Ronna McDaniel’s tenure as Republican National Committee chair, ridiculed Joe Biden for passing on a Super Bowl interview, and had some kind words for King Charles III following his cancer diagnosis.