Former President Donald Trump says a president “has to have immunity.” But federal appeals court judges in Washington are expressing deep skepticism that the Republican former president is immune from prosecution on charges that he plotted to overturn the results of the 2020 election he lost to Joe Biden. On Tuesday Trump returned to the federal courthouse in Washington for his appeal of charges against him. The three-judge panel also questioned whether they had jurisdiction to consider the appeal at this point in the case, raising the prospect that Trump's effort could be dismissed. During lengthy arguments, the judges repeatedly pressed Trump’s lawyer to defend claims that Trump was shielded from criminal charges.

Three years after the attack on the U.S. Capitol, Washington’s federal courthouse is flooded with trials, guilty plea hearings and sentencings stemming from the largest criminal investigation in American history. And the hunt for suspects is far from over. Authorities are working to identify more than 80 people wanted for acts of violence at the Capitol. They also want to identity the person who placed pipe bombs outside the Republican and Democratic national committees’ offices the day before the Capitol attack. They continue to regularly make new arrests, even as some Jan. 6 defendants are being released from prison after completing their sentences. About 750 defendants have been sentenced, most receiving time behind bars.

Donald Trump's lawyers are pressing to have special counsel Jack Smith’s team held in contempt. The Republican former president's lawyers said Thursday prosecutors have taken steps to advance the 2020 election interference case against him in violation of a judge’s order that put the case on hold. The attorneys told U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan in Washington, D.C., she should consider holding Smith and two of his prosecutors in contempt. A spokesman for Smith has declined to comment. Prosecutors have acknowledged the deadlines in the case are on hold pending an appeal. But prosecutors say they'd continue meeting the deadlines to ensure the prompt resumption of the case once it's returned to the court.