this post was submitted on 09 Jan 2024
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US presidents cannot be prosecuted for selling pardons or assassinating political rivals through SEAL Team Six, personal Trump lawyer John Sauer argued Tuesday

Advancing a sweeping interpretation of executive immunity, Donald Trump’s attorney told a federal appeals court on Tuesday that U.S. presidents could not be prosecuted for selling pardons or assassinating political rivals through SEAL Team Six.

Trump’s lead attorney D. John Sauer argued that only a president who has been impeached and removed from office in a Senate trial potentially would be subject to prosecution for those kinds of alleged crimes.

A three-judge panel appeared extremely skeptical of Trump’s vision of absolute immunity, sharply questioning and interrupting Sauer during the opening minutes of the oral arguments with the former president himself sitting nearby.

“Could a president order SEAL Team Six to assassinate a political rival? That’s an official act–an order to Seal Team Six,” U.S. Circuit Judge Florence Pan asked Sauer.

“He would have to be, and would speedily be, you know, impeached and convicted before the criminal prosecution,” Sauer replied, setting a pre-condition for such prosecution in Pan’s hypothetical.

(page 2) 29 comments
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[–] fubarx@lemmy.ml 6 points 10 months ago (1 children)

If you take that argument to the logical extreme, a President who has committed all those bad acts can:

  • Stop all investigations of said bad acts, therefore avoiding impeachment.

  • Threaten any member of the House that is thinking of voting to impeach him.

  • On the off-chance is impeached and is now waiting the verdict of the Senate, have every incentive to offer all kinds of corrupt deals (free pardons, private arms deals, etc) to Senators to buy their vote. This way, they won't be convicted in the Senate and they can keep enjoying their infinite immunity forever.

Neat-o.

[–] TechyDad@lemmy.world 6 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Or just go one step further and have all Congressional members of the opposing party killed.

Biden would never do this and I don't want him to, but let's suppose that Trump's "legal theory" is correct and Biden wakes up tomorrow thinking that he's sick of dealing with the Republicans' malarkey. He orders some military groups known to be loyal to him to round up every Republican member of Congress along with certain Supreme Court justices. They are all executed. Then Trump is brought in and executed as well.

Now what would happen? Would Biden be charged with mass murder? No, he's immune to prosecution. You need to impeach and convict him first. But nobody remains who would impeach him. So he's totally immune as he appoints left leaning Supreme Court justices and expands his "early Republican retirement program" to right leaning Federal judges.

Again, I wouldn't want him doing this, but according to Trump this would be totally legal.

[–] splicerslicer@lemmy.world 3 points 10 months ago

Look up the tape of sadaam Hussein rising to power, that's exactly what he did. Had all of his enemies carted out in front of everyone to be executed. That's the future trump wants for us.

[–] DrinkMonkey@lemmy.ca 2 points 10 months ago

But nobody remains who would impeach him

I want to believe there would be a principled few who would. But someone who would murder their opponents would also murder their colleagues, and they’d all know this, so…yeah.

[–] queermunist@lemmy.ml 6 points 10 months ago

i.e. a preview of the next administration.

[–] benderfend@lemmy.world 5 points 10 months ago (2 children)

So if Trump gets immunity... Does that mean Biden is of the hook for whatever bs the repubs want him impeached for? What would stop the Dems from "stealing" the election back? (Besides them having actual morals..)

[–] Garbanzo@lemmy.world 5 points 10 months ago

Nope, he'd only be off the hook if his wrongdoing was connected to his duties as President. Ordering the military to assassinate Republican congressmen would be totally legit though, so in the end it doesn't really matter.

No, they're saying that impeachment and removal has to happen first.

So this means that Biden can just assassinate all of the GOP.

[–] peopleproblems@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago

I'm going to need a script for benzos

[–] werefreeatlast@lemmy.world 0 points 10 months ago

Epstein didn't you, know himself...but let's discuss that in greater details if Trump ordered it.

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