A Pennsylvania state judge has ruled that former President Donald Trump’s statements casting doubt on the 2020 election results while he was in office are protected by presidential immunity. The ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed by James Savage, a Pennsylvania voting machine supervisor, who alleged that Trump, Rudy Giuliani, and others conspired to defame him, leading to death threats and health issues. Judge Michael Erdos stated that Trump’s immunity covered a tweet and comments he made during a Pennsylvania state Senate committee hearing in November 2020, both of which claimed fraud in Pennsylvania’s election tabulations without evidence.
While the judge ruled that Trump has immunity for the statements made while serving as president, the lawsuit also includes claims over a letter Trump wrote to the House Jan. 6 committee last October, for which he is not immune, as it was written after leaving office. Trump’s legal team expressed satisfaction with the court’s decision, emphasizing that it upheld the principle of presidential immunity. The ruling does not affect other legal proceedings examining Trump’s conduct or other civil lawsuits related to his unfounded claims of electoral fraud.
