Supreme Court asked to decide if Trump can be prosecuted

[Danderman123]

On 12/12/2023 at 1:45 AM, BusyB said:

 

Smith would have to apply for political asylum somewhere before Trump takes over if the SC goes against him. He'll have from November till January to find a nice place to live without an extradition treaty ...

If the SC declares that presidents are immune to any legal restrictions while in office, that would give Jack Smith more time to focus on the classified documents case.

[Danderman123]

Meanwhile, the Court of Appeals will review the case on January 9.

[Danderman123]

Let's look at the presidential immunity issue. There are several ways the Supremes could rule:

 

Full immunity. That means that presidents are fully immune in all situations. That's a crazy position, since Clarence Thomas does not want Joe Biden to shoot him. Very unlikely the SC will go for full immunity.

 

Immunity for official acts: this may sound good, but what happens if an official act is corrupt? For example, a pardon is an official act, but a president might sell pardons, which is illegal.

 

Immunity for official acts, if they are not corrupt. Again, it sounds good, but isn't workable. If DOJ indicts a president for a corrupt official act, the defense is going to say that the president has immunity. Which means another ruling by the Supreme Court.

 

No immunity. That's a fairly bulletproof position. I don't know how much, if any, immunity the Supremes will grant a president.

[placeholder]

On 12/17/2023 at 12:13 AM, Danderman123 said:

If the SC declares that presidents are immune to any legal restrictions while in office, that would give Jack Smith more time to focus on the classified documents case.

Well, actually, the Justice Dept has ruled that President can't be prosecuted for crimes while they are in office. That's why Mueller didn't bring charges against Trump. But that's only while they're in office. Once they're out of office, they're fair game. The argument Trump's people are making is that while Presidents are in office they are above the law and can't be prosecuted subsequently for any acts they committed while in office. That stance seems to be nuts and would have horrified the founding fathers.

[stevenl]

27 minutes ago, placeholder said:

Well, actually, the Justice Dept has ruled that President can't be prosecuted for crimes while they are in office. That's why Mueller didn't bring charges against Trump. But that's only while they're in office. Once they're out of office, they're fair game. The argument Trump's people are making is that while Presidents are in office they are above the law and can't be prosecuted subsequently for any acts they committed while in office. That stance seems to be nuts and would have horrified the founding fathers.

Also keep in mind that a justice department opinion is just that, their opinion. It doesn't mean a sitting president can't be prosecuted while they're in office.

[placeholder]

1 minute ago, stevenl said:

Also keep in mind that a justice department opinion is just that, their opinion. It doesn't mean a sitting president can't be prosecuted while they're in office.

True. But it's been the guiding rule for a while now. Which is why when defenders of Trump claim that Mueller found nothing including no evidence of Russian involvement with the Trump campaign or even Trump himself, they're clearly clueless.

[Will B Good]

Flip this on its head...............If they rule he can't be prosecuted.......just imagine what he might do if he becomes president again knowing he can't be prosecuted.

[Danderman123]

On 12/25/2023 at 1:33 PM, Will B Good said:

Flip this on its head...............If they rule he can't be prosecuted.......just imagine what he might do if he becomes president again knowing he can't be prosecuted.

Bingo.

 

A ruling in Trump's favor makes the President a virtual king.

[Danderman123]

My prediction:

 

the Court of Appeals will lift the stay on the January 6 court case, so that it can proceed.

 

The immunity claim will be resolved in some manner.

 

Trump will be in court in 2024 for this case.