The Supreme Court will hear arguments on Thursday over Trump’s claim of presidential immunity, which might have an impact on many of Trump’s trials, potentially thwarting the Democrats’ lawfare plan against the businessman.
According to SCOTUSblog, “the judges’ question is whether Trump should have criminal charges for allegedly plotting to rig the 2020 election results.” “The court’s decision will determine whether the former president’s trials in Florida and Georgia can move forward, as well as whether Trump’s trial in Washington, D.C., before U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, which was originally planned for March 4, is currently on pause.”
The ongoing trial in New York City about Trump’s non-disclosure agreement is not relevant to this case.
Last year, a grand jury brought four charges against Trump related to Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into the Capitol brawl. Smith charged that Trump engaged in three criminal conspiracies aimed at the democratic process and disseminated false information about election fraud in order to create “widespread suspicion.”
For inciting “widespread suspicion” in the 2016 election through false accusations of Russian connection, not a single person has ever faced legal action.
In December, Trump made an attempt to claim presidential immunity, but Judge Chutkan denied this request. Smith requested that the Supreme Court consider Trump’s immunity claim immediately in order to avoid the D.C. Circuit’s review process, but the Court denied his request. Afterwards, the D.C. Circuit dismissed Trump’s claim of immunity and maintained Chutkan’s decision. Unless Trump requested Supreme Court intervention, the criminal prosecution against him would continue, and a deadline of February 12 for the judgment to take effect was set. Trump did, and in the end, the Supreme Court decided to hear the case, advancing it to its April term.
“Trump informs the judges in his merits brief before the Supreme Court that the prosecution of the accusations against him would constitute “a deadly threat to the Presidency’s independence.” According to Trump, “if the President fears criminal prosecution for official conduct once he leaves office, the President cannot operate and the Presidency itself cannot keep its crucial independence,” since the prosecution threat will loom large over the president’s decision-making process. Trump makes the claim that “a president who is worried about an ongoing criminal investigation is almost definitely going to do a worse job as president,” citing a law review article written by Brett Kavanaugh, the then-judge who served in the George W. Bush White House before entering the judiciary. Trump goes on to say that “if that criminal probe is waiting in the wings until he leaves office,” then the same is true. Trump argues that a president is never subject to legal action for actions taken while in office. First, he cites a “long history” of no prosecutions despite what he terms “ample motive and opportunity”—citing everything from President Joe Biden’s “mismanagement of the southern border” to Henry Clay’s appointment as secretary of state by John Quincy Adams “after Clay gave the 1824 election to him in the House.”
If the Supreme Court grants Trump’s argument, the left’s entire attempt to condemn Trump will depend on Bragg’s New York case regarding an alleged misdemeanor that is outside the statute of limitations and usually carries a fine.
Author: Scott Dowdy
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