Trump invokes ‘rogue cops’ and ‘bad apples’ to explain why he needs total immunity

Ex-president facing 91 criminal charges says White House incumbents should be immune from prosecution even when they ‘cross the line’

Faced with numerous legal battles, Donald Trump is once again arguing that he should be granted immunity from criminal prosecution – even in the case of events that “cross the line”.

At 2am on Thursday, in an all-caps post on his social media platform Truth Social, the former president wrote that all presidents should have “full immunity” in order to “properly function” in their position.

“ANY MISTAKE, EVEN IF WELL INTENDED, WOULD BE MET WITH ALMOST CERTAIN INDICTMENT BY THE OPPOSING PARTY AT TERM END,” he wrote. “EVEN EVENTS THAT ‘CROSS THE LINE’ MUST FALL UNDER TOTAL IMMUNITY, OR IT WILL BE YEARS OF TRAUMA TRYING TO DETERMINE GOOD FROM BAD.”

Mr Trump has been attempting to get federal charges against him, which accuse him of election interference, dismissed. A federal appeals court is expected to make a ruling on the matter soon. So far, the three-judge panel does not seem likely to rule in his favour.

In the Truth Social post on Thursday, Mr Trump invoked the example of “rogue cops” and “bad apples” in police departments for why he should be immune from prosecution.

“YOU CAN’T STOP POLICE FROM DOING THE JOB OF STRONG & EFFECTIVE CRIME PREVENTION BECAUSE YOU WANT TO GUARD AGAINST THE OCCASIONAL ‘ROGUE COP’ OR ‘BAD APPLE,’” he wrote. “SOMETIMES YOU JUST HAVE TO LIVE WITH ‘GREAT BUT SLIGHTLY IMPERFECT.’”

In the midst of his 2024 presidential campaign, Mr Trump is facing several separate court cases against him, including 91 criminal charges across four separate indictments.

Currently in New York, E Jean Carroll — who has accused Mr Trump of sexual assault — is in federal court for her a civil defamation case against him. He also faces a judgment following a civil fraud trial stemming from accusations that he vastly inflated his net worth in order to fraudulently obtain favourable financing terms.

The frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination is also facing criminal charges in Georgia for election interference, as well as a federal case over allegations that he mishandled classified documents.