Donald Trump has claimed that every president will be "immediately indicted" by the opposing party after leaving office if they are not granted immunity.
The former president, who is fighting four criminal cases while seeking to reclaim the White House, has repeatedly advanced the argument that he is immune from prosecution for actions taken while in office.
"IF IMMUNITY IS NOT GRANTED TO A PRESIDENT, EVERY PRESIDENT THAT LEAVES OFFICE WILL BE IMMEDIATELY INDICTED BY THE OPPOSING PARTY," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Monday night.
"WITHOUT COMPLETE IMMUNITY, A PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO PROPERLY FUNCTION!"
A Trump spokesperson has been contacted for comment via email.
Trump has argued that he is shielded from criminal charges for acts that he says fell within his official duties as president in a bid to derail his election interference case in Washington, D.C. He has pleaded not guilty to charges of plotting to overturn the 2020 election in the run-up to the violent riot by his supporters at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is overseeing the case, rejected that argument in December. The office of the president "does not confer a lifelong 'get-out-of-jail-free' pass," Chutkan said in her December ruling.
But she vacated the March 4 trial date in the case on Friday as Trump awaits a ruling from a federal appeals court on his claims of presidential immunity.
Trump has similarly made sweeping claims that presidential immunity shields him from liability in a Georgia case charging him with plotting to overturn the 2020 election result in the state, as well as in writer E. Jean Carroll's lawsuit accusing him of defaming her.
"Trump is now a private citizen and therefore, like every other private citizen, is not immune to any criminal process," Michael Gerhardt, a University of North Carolina law professor and constitutional law expert, told Newsweek.
"A bedrock principle in this country is that no one is above the law—and that means even former presidents are not above the law."
Last month, Trump said presidents need "full" immunity even for events that "cross the line."
But legal experts have said they believe the immunity argument will be rejected by the courts.
Norm Eisen, who served as President Barack Obama's ethics czar, has said that Trump's immunity claims are bound to be rejected by the federal appeals court and the Supreme Court.
"His argument here that he has absolute immunity, and he can send SEAL Team Six out to assassinate a political opponent...that can't be right," Eisen said during an appearance CNN on Sunday. "The D.C. Circuit is going to reject that....I don't think that's going to fly at the Supreme Court. It's inimical to American law."
Update 2/6/24, 9:15 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with comment from Michael Gerhardt.
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