DC appeals court rules against Trump’s presidential immunity as a legal bar in the election interference case
This is unsurprising:
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit rejected former President Donald Trump’s claim that he has presidential immunity in the D.C. election interference case.
Former President Trump moved to dismiss the Indictment and the district court denied his motion. Today, we affirm the denial. For the purpose of this criminal case, former President Trump has become citizen Trump, with all of the defenses of any other criminal defendant. But any executive immunity that may have protected him while he served as President no longer protects him against this prosecution.
There will be an appeal, but it’s not clear that SCOTUS would take the case although it certainly might. I think they definitely should, but they’re not asking me.
Another possibility – if Trump’s aim is to delay the case – is to ask the entire DC court to hear it en banc. The result would still be the same, I believe, but it would take longer.
Oh Please, let the Harry Reid rule apply to a future Dem Prez
It will be the last fatal blow to the American justice system if former President Trump is found guilty of election interference. As the facts demonstrate exactly the opposite.
If the left can convict and imprison a former president of a charge entirely lacking in validity, then no one is safe and innocence is no longer a sufficient defense.
The left will have ended the rule of law within America and only one means of redress of grievance will remain.
No doubt some on the left desire a violent reaction. Should they get their wish, they will discover to have chosen… poorly.
“Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history than has any other factor, and the contrary opinion is wishful thinking at its worst. Breeds that forget this basic truth have always paid for it with their lives and their freedoms” Robert A. Heinlein
Yes, appeal for an en banc review and then appeal for cert. to the S.C. This will all take time.
Problem with en banc is that Julia Roberts would probably use their inevitable denial as a reason why SCOTUS should not accept the case.
Not sure they’d accept it anyhow. The key is elapsed time.
Which Republican prosecutor will now pursue a claim against Obama for illegally drone striking a US citizen ?
Jonathan Hurley says the DC Court order gives Trump until Feb. 12 to appeal to the SC. Normal time frame would be 90 days, he says.
there’s little point to going en banc
https://twitter.com/julie_kelly2/status/1754915405771030727
Kate:
So the Chatiqua Circuit has decided to allow The Great Orange Whale the possibility of an appeal? How megamanicial (or magnamanous, or is that MAGAnamanous) of them. We don’t deserve such rulers.
I think the safe word is procrustean
https://twitter.com/seanmdav/status/1755033538934476896
Kate:
I misspelled again:
the Chiquita Circuit Court of Appeals. The best in our Banana Republic of Brandon.
LordAzrael. They never think of the consequences, do they? It will never happen to them because they will have absolute power forever and ever. Good luck, but just wait to see what you’ve unleashed.
LordAzrael,
That was my thought also. This will lead to Presidents fighting near continual lawfare.
I saw this quoted in some post somewhere recently.
Certainly relevant to this situation, and quite a few more, as Rufus points out in his reply to LordAzrael. (Sorry about the formatting; it’s not fixable in copypasta from a pdf.)
https://www.lawsociety.bc.ca/Website/media/Shared/docs/initiatives/Rule/2021-01_RuleofLawvsRulebyLaw.pdf
@ Kate > ” the DC Court order gives Trump until Feb. 12 to appeal to the SC.”
That was repeated in the Julie Kelly Tweet as well.
If Trump’s lawyers don’t already have the brief written and the barristers prepped for a SCOTUS hearing they are committing malpractice.
They can’t guarantee the Supremes will take the case (dodging their responsibility seems to be de rigueur now), but they have to be ready.
I can’t speak to Presidential immunity, as I don’t know enough about it. There IS something I “like” about the whole J6 thing. The FBI and maybe the DOJ ran an operation on J6 without Trump or the White House knowing about it. An operation against the President’s interest. If this isn’t evidence of a rogue agency I don’t know what is.
“Election interference?” What happened in 2020 that wasn’t “election interference?”
The case against Donald Trump is absurd, but the appeals court wasn’t asked to decide that. One can imagine a case where a president really did try to establish a dictatorship and wonder if executive privilege would really protect him from prosecution, but that’s far from what happened in this case. The likely result is that executive privilege will only exist for Democrats (and the occasional Republican who goes along with the Democrats).