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Donald Trump issued an all-caps defense of ‘full immunity’ for presidents, comparing the situation to fighting crime despite the occasional ‘rogue cop’ – as a judicial panel weighs his objection to his January 6 prosecution. Trump made the pronouncement and the analogy while a three-judge federal appeals court panel weighed his claim of ‘absolute’ immunity from prosecution.
Trump left no doubt where he comes down on the matter, while his lawyers fight the issue and likely delay his scheduled March 4 trial in Washington, D.C. ‘A PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES MUST HAVE FULL IMMUNITY, WITHOUT WHICH IT WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE FOR HIM/HER TO PROPERLY FUNCTION. ANY MISTAKE, EVEN IF WELL INTENDED, WOULD BE MET WITH ALMOST CERTAIN INDICTMENT BY THE OPPOSING PARTY AT TERM END. EVEN EVENTS THAT ‘CROSS THE LINE’ MUST FALL UNDER TOTAL IMMUNITY, OR IT WILL BE YEARS OF TRAUMA TRYING TO DETERMINE GOOD FROM BAD,’ Trump wrote.
Trump called for ‘certainty,’ and then gave an example. ”YOU CAN’T STOP POLICE FROM DOING THE JOB OF STRONG & EFFECTIVE CRIME PREVENTION BECAUSE YOU WANT TO GUARD AGAINST THE OCCASIONAL ‘ROGUE COP’ OR ‘BAD APPLE.’ SOMETIMES YOU JUST HAVE TO LIVE WITH ‘GREAT BUT SLIGHTLY IMPERFECT.’ ALL PRESIDENTS MUST HAVE COMPLETE & TOTAL PRESIDENTIAL IMMUNITY, OR THE AUTHORITY & DECISIVENESS OF A PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES WILL BE STRIPPED & GONE FOREVER.
HOPEFULLY THIS WILL BE AN EASY DECISION. GOD BLESS THE SUPREME COURT !’ he wrote. His post, on his Truth Social site, comes after his lawyers faced tough questions from judges in a Washington, D.C. Appeals Court. Trump made the appeal after a blowout win in Iowa while leading the presidential primaries in Iowa and calling for ‘unity.’
‘I think it’s paradoxical to say that his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed allows him to violate criminal law,’ said Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson, a George W. Bush appointee during the January 9 hearing over Trump’s immunity claim.
In a dramatic exchange during the 90-minute hearing, Judge Florence Pan asked Trump’s lawyer John Sauer: ‘A yes or no question. Could a president who ordered SEAL Team 6 to assassinate a political rival, who was not impeached, be subject to a criminal prosecution?’ Trump lawyer John Sauer responded: ‘If he were impeached and convicted first.’
‘So your answer is no,’ shot back Pan. Trump has long defended tough action by cops. Back in 2017, he poked at the police practice of protecting the heads of suspects in custody while putting them into squad cars. ”You can take the handoff,’ Trump said. ‘Please don’t be too nice.’
Trump’s blessing to the Supreme Court suggests his team is prepared for an adverse ruling. If the judicial panel rules against him, Trump can seek an ‘en banc’ review from the entire federal appeals court. If that court rules against him, he can seek relief at the U.S. Supreme Court.
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