A very important court case to decide if Donald Trump can be charged with a crime will be held in Washington on Tuesday.
The lawyers for the ex-president, who is a Republican, will say that being president protects him from being accused of election fraud in 2020.
Mr Trump, who said he will go, is accused by a special lawyer of trying to change Joe Biden’s win.
The result of this hearing could greatly affect what happens to Mr. Trump in the future.
His lawyers are using the same argument to defend him in another group of election charges he has in Georgia.
It is likely that this problem will go to the US Supreme Court during the 2024 election, where Mr. Trump is expected to win the Republican nomination.
Long legal arguments about whether he has immunity could make his criminal trials take longer than expected, possibly even after the November election when he will likely be up against Democratic President Joe Biden.
For many years, the ex-president has used presidential immunity to avoid facing civil and criminal cases against him.
The US Constitution does not say that the president is immune from lawsuits, but courts have usually agreed that government officials should be protected from being sued.
There is no past law that says what should happen if a president is charged with a crime.
In legal papers before this court date, the special lawyer prosecuting him, Jack Smith, told the court that if Mr Trump is not allowed to be charged, it could mean that presidents can break the law to stay in office.
The judge said being president doesn’t mean you can never go to jail.
On Monday, in a post on social media, Mr. Trump said that he was not trying to get elected when he questioned the results of the election against Mr. He said he was just doing his job as the president by pointing out voter fraud.
Three judges in Washington DC will talk and listen to arguments at the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, and then make a decision later on.
The courtroom is a few blocks from the US Capitol. His fans stormed the Capitol to prevent Joe Biden from being confirmed as president in January 2021.
Mr Trump’s lawyers will use his Senate acquittal for his actions before the violence to support their case.
“His appeal document says the president can’t be charged for a crime if the US Senate already said he didn’t do it. ” The accusation against President Trump is not legal or allowed by the constitution. It needs to be rejected.
A survey by CBS News shows that most Americans think that Mr. Trump should not be shielded from being prosecuted for things he did while he was president.
The trial for the election fraud case is supposed to happen on 4 March, but it is paused because the appeals court, which has two judges picked by Democratic presidents and one by a Republican, hasn’t made a decision yet.
No matter what the judges decide, most people think the case will go to the US Supreme Court. Conservatives have more judges there, with 6 out of 9.
Last month, the highest court said no to Mr. Smith’s request to speed up a decision on Mr. Trump’s immunity claim.
Last month, the Supreme Court said it will hear Mr. Trump’s appeal against Colorado for not allowing him to be on the ballot because of a rarely used part of the US constitution.