Donald Trump on Tuesday filed a U.S. Supreme Court brief in his bid for criminal immunity for trying to overturn his 2020 election loss, arguing that a former president enjoys “absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for his official acts.”
The case is due to be argued before the justices on April 25. Trump has appealed a lower court’s rejection of his request to be shielded from the criminal case being pursued by Special Counsel Jack Smith because he was serving as president when he took the actions at the center of the case.
The filing advances arguments similar to ones Trump’s lawyers previously have made and echoes statements he has made on the campaign trail as he seeks to regain the presidency.
“The president cannot function, and the presidency itself cannot retain its vital independence, if the president faces criminal prosecution for official acts once he leaves office,” the filing said.
If an “official act” is anything that happens while they’re in office, Biden should just shoot Trump on his last day in office. Following this argument, he’d be immune to prosecution.
A denial of criminal immunity would incapacitate every future president with de facto blackmail and extortion while in office, and condemn him to years of post-office trauma at the hands of political opponents.
It’s funny that this hasn’t happened in 45 presidencies, yet his argument is that it’s suddenly going to be a problem for every future president…
Biden should just shoot Trump on his last day in office.
He shouldn’t even wait until the last day.
Especially since then Trump’s VP would be President and who knows what fucko he’s going to run with.
Justice = blackmail Accountability = extortion
It’s diabolical the limits the law places on people who just want to pick winners, losers, and sell secrets. Kinda unfair, really.
What’s the point of all that power if it’s fettered?
“The president cannot function, and the presidency itself cannot retain its vital independence, if the president faces criminal prosecution for official acts once he leaves office,” the filing said.
The presidents from 1789 to 2016 did seem to manage, one way or another.
It also presumes that the independent presidency is of any value to the republic, pretty consistently it has actually been a source of conflicts both over the authority it holds and over the authority it is not supposed to but does anyways because an independent executive will inherently form a parasitic relationship against any legislative body it is unaccountable to.
Wtf are official acts when you leave office?
it means [for official acts performed during their tenure] [retroactively punished once they have left the office]
Why does he need immunity if everything he did was “perfectly legal”?
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Ex presidents… Plural. Could someone get Dubya or Clinton or one of the others to retire Trump, since they’re now immune too
Fuck under that Obama could take him out. After all he is ex president.
Are the Bush’s also against Trump? If so I feel like they should be more vocal about that.
The really scary part is that this ‘court’ might do what he wants
If it does, I hope Biden goes on a huge crime spree. I mean, that’s the endgame so might as well be entertained while the shop goes down.
OK OK OK New theory: Trump’s lawyers are trying to get him killed.
- Lawyers argue during presidents should be able to literally assassinate people
- Conservative supreme court agrees
- Biden, with newly granted powers, takes next logical step and has Trump retired.
I doubt any Republican would risk accepting the nomination for, or running against, Biden - or any Democrat president ever again.
Tbf I don’t think his lawyers are the ones pushing him to go through with this. I think it’s him pushing them to do it 'cause he owns SCOTUS.
Occam’s Razor, for sure, but I like mine.
Unfortunately I really doubt Biden would break the law even if SCOTUS said he couldn’t be prosecuted. It would effectively stain him forever and he’d need to keep breaking the law in order to stay in power. He imprisons Trump he’s probably looking at impeachment. So then he needs to jail dissidents in congress. Now he’s definitely not winning re-election so he needs to suspend the election.
Either way dictators win if this decision gives Presidents absolute immunity. Which is the only reason I’m hopeful the corrupt SCOTUS won’t decide along those lines. The SCOTUS, and the entire country would effectively be held hostage under the dictator President.
This sounds great, let’s do it
I’m surprised that the supreme court would even hear this request. He’s just a normal citizen now and the brief sounds a lot like someone requesting retrospective absolution for their crimes.
Iirc this is just a brief and the court can choose not to hear it, without giving their reasons.
Although it would be hard to say no to the boss. :P
Fuck Donald Trump and whatever he thinks
Remind repubs that absolute immunity would cover sexual crimes against children. Let’s use their insane “think of the children” crap to actually do something positive.
Just like an good oligarch dictator would.
Do it!
Then we can blacksite that fucker and never have to hear about his shit again!
No matter what they do the orange man loses. Either they rule against him and he goes to jail or they rule in his favor and Biden takes full advantage of his own “Presidential Immunity.”
Presidential Immunity would be the single worst outcome for the country, regardless of what happened to Trump himself. It would remove all oversight to the Executive branch. And it would confirm that the Supreme Court is utterly corrupt, because there is no way it could be interpreted as constitutional by reasonable people. Even hearing the case is an obscene waste of time and resources.
I’m embarrassed as an American that we are seeing any of this take place.
Completely agree.
He really doesn’t see how this could backfire on him, does he?
Translation: Trump is shitting his pants out of fear of actual consequences.
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