Trump and his lawyers are demanding exactly that without reservation. If they were granted justice, the criminal trials put on hold because of Trump’s attempted manipulation of the 2020 election results would probably be null and void.
At the same time, Trump was in the courtroom at the hush money trial in New York
Meanwhile, the clearly annoyed ex-president had to go to… New York listen again, like a former tabloid owner, David Pecker, who, for a fee, swept unpleasant sex affair stories under the carpet for him before the 2016 election. Trump, who would have preferred to be in Washington, had Judge Juan Merchan Compulsory attendance has been prescribed.
His lawyer acted for the ex-president at the Supreme Court John Sauer the word. His position, considered absurd by many legal scholars, was that Trump could only be prosecuted if he had first been removed from office by Congress. That is not the case here.
In addition to the formal aspect, the defense attorney argued that with the trial against Trump, America was opening Pandora’s box by restricting the freedom of action of the first man in the state. Future presidents would then also have to expect to be prosecuted after their departure.
Hypothetically, Sauer asks: “Could be president George W. Bush be sent to prison for allegedly lying to Congress to trigger a war in Iraq? Sauer’s answer: No! Sauer even said it could theoretically be within a president’s authority to order the military to kill a political rival.
Judges indicate sympathy for giving Trump immunity
In subsequent questioning, several conservative justices, who have a 6-3 majority, expressed sympathy for the idea that presidents/ex-presidents deserve some immunity. Whether they carried out the actions attributed to Trump Storming of the Capitol 2021 including this remained open.
As for the indictment of the chief investigator Jack Smith must worry: at least two conservative judges, Samuel Alito and Brett Kavanaugh indicated that, in their view, a cornerstone of the allegations against Trump – the fraudulent conspiracy against the United States – is on very thin ice.
Other judges were not averse to pursuing further legal investigations to answer the question of whether the crimes Trump was accused of occurred in his capacity as president – or as a private citizen. Should this order go to lower authorities, it would be the one initiated by Jack Smith Criminal proceedings against Trump are definitely off the table before the presidential election in November, in which Trump is entering as the Republican candidate.
Liberal judges warn of “criminal activity” in the White House
The three liberal judges Elena Kagan, Ketanji Brown Jackson and Sonia Sotomayor made it clear that the fathers of the constitution deliberately did not give the president absolute immunity. Otherwise the Oval Office in the White House could for the „headquarters of criminal activities in this country”.
The top lawyer, who has represented the Ministry of Justice before the Supreme Court for 30 years, took this approach Michael Dreeben. The immunity claimed by Trump, which is nowhere mentioned in the constitution, would be kgive the future president a blank check for any crime. Dreeben subsequently came under heavy fire.
Led by Samuel Alito, conservative judges argued that if Trump were put on trial, America would enter a democracy-destabilizing spiral of persecution of former presidents. After almost three hours, the hearing was over. The Supreme Court has until the end of June to make its decision.