Donald Trump argued he is "absolutely immune" to prosecution over the 2020 election in a new push to throw away criminal charges for "election subversion." 

Trump's lawyers formally asked the D.C. Appeals Court to toss the charges Saturday after a lower court rejected Trump's request.

At its core, Trump argues that the actions he took after the 2020 election fell under his official duty to ensure the election was lawful and proper.

Trump also argues he is immune because the Senate already acquitted him of the charges Smith is now pressing.

Absolutely immune....

In order to be prosecuted, a president must first be impeached and convicted by Congress - which didn't happen in Trump's case.

The purpose of this design is to prevent abusive political prosecution, Trump's lawyers said.

"Before any single prosecutor can ask a court to sit in judgment of the President’s conduct, Congress must have approved of it by impeaching and convicting the President,” they wrote. “That did not happen here, and so President Trump has absolute immunity.”

Smith's unprecedented criminal prosecution threatens to unravel the Constitution's carefully balanced system by unleashing "cycles of recrimination and politically motivated prosecution that will plague our Nation for many decades to come."

The district court judge, Tanya Chutkan, declined to throw out the charges in a florid ruling that accused Trump of asserting the divine right of kings.

But Chutkan "missed what the Founders recognized: That punishment of the President is irreducibly political and so belongs primarily to the branch most politically accountable—Congress and, ultimately, the Senate," Trump's team asserted.

Trump can win even if he loses...

Two out of the three judges who will hear the appeal on January 9th were appointed by Biden - so the odds of Trump receiving a favorable ruling do not seem high.

But even if Trump loses, he can still win if the appeal is drawn out enough to significantly delay the trial.

Jack Smith's March trial date appears more dubious than ever after the Supreme Court on Friday rejected Smith's attempt to "leapfrog" the lower appeals court.

The case is on hold pending resolution of the appeal.

Trump's rhetoric against Smith and others aligned with Biden has grown more and more intense - with Trump wishing eternal damnation on Smith in some of his recent Truth Social posts.