Yesterday, Trump filed his brief in the Supreme Court asking them to agree that a president should have "absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for his official acts."
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Trump wants absolute immunity for criminal acts!
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Let’s come back to that in a moment.
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In his filing, Trump also says, "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."
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It is easy to see why it is a ridiculous claim that presidents NEED criminal immunity.
We just have to notice that no other president in the entire 235 years of the American presidency has ever demanded absolute immunity - except for Trump.
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How come Trump is the only president in history to claim presidents must have criminal immunity?
Well, for one reason, Trump is hoping that absolute immunity will get him off the hook for crimes he is already accused of committing in his first term.
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Every American accused of a crime has a right to have his or her day in court.
Trump is desperately trying to avoid his day in court by making this extreme claim of criminal immunity for presidents that no other president has ever claimed.
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The second reason Trump is desperate for immunity is that, based on his speeches about retribution and his allies busily working away on their “Project 2025” strategy, he is almost certainly planning to trample on laws again if he wins the election this year….
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OK, now let’s go back and look closer at Trump’s original claim. What Trump is asking for is: "absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for his official acts."
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This claim has already been rejected by four judges in two lower courts.
Now Trump is hoping for better luck with the Supremes.
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In this claim, “absolute” means that if a president commits crimes related to official acts, and then, if he is not impeached, or if he is impeached but not removed from office, he can NEVER be prosecuted for his crimes.
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Think about what this means.
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If the president has enough allies in the house to avoid impeachment, or if he has enough allies in the Senate to avoid being removed from office, he can go ahead and commit crimes openly, and NEVER be prosecuted!
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What could be included in crimes involving official acts?
In the arguments before the appeals court that rejected Trump’s claim, a judge asked if a president could order the military to murder a political rival and have immunity.
Trump’s lawyer, with Trump sitting right next to him, argued that if a president ordered the military to murder a political rival, the president could only be prosecuted for murder if he were impeached and removed from office.
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Say that the other way around: Trump and his team argued that a president should be able to murder a political rival, and then, if he has just 34 allies in the Senate who will prevent him from being removed from office he can NEVER be prosecuted for murder.
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Do Trump supporters really understand the kind of dictatorial power trump is asking for here?
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A government where a president with 34 Senate allies can commit crimes up to and including the murder of political rivals is not any kind of government we have ever had in America.
That sounds like a Saddam Hussein Iraq government, or a Pol Pot Cambodia government, or an Idi Amin Ugandan government, or a Joseph Stalin Soviet government, or an Adolf Hitler German government.
It sure wouldn’t be an American government….
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Most people think the Supreme Court is going to reject Trump’s ridiculous and dangerous immunity claim.
But even if they do, how can we trust a man who thinks presidents should have this insane level of dictatorial power?
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Please spread the word: Trump is a menace to everything America stands for.
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Let’s hope the Supreme Court quickly says, “NO criminal immunity for presidents.”
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Let’s hope the American people say in November, “no presidents who WANT criminal immunity.”
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-files-us-supreme-court-brief-arguing-immunity-prosecution-2024-03-19/