Opinion | Trump’s Fever Dream of Immunity Meets Its Match

On Tuesday, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit announced its decision in the case of the United States v. Trump, on the question of the former president’s immunity — or lack thereof — to federal criminal prosecution. The panel isn’t having it.

“We cannot accept that the office of the presidency places its former occupants above the law for all time thereafter,” the opinion reads. “Former President Trump lacked any lawful discretionary authority to defy federal criminal law and he is answerable in court for his conduct,” the judges added.

Of course, this is not the end of the road for Trump. He will appeal the decision, and the case will almost certainly be taken up by the Supreme Court, where our eminent tribunal will decide whether the former president is immune from criminal prosecution for illegal acts done in office under the auspices of executive authority.

It might be tempting to set the panel’s opinion aside,…