Posted on 01/09/2024 10:52:10 AM PST by Red Badger
WASHINGTON (AP) — With Donald Trump listening intently in the courtroom, federal appeals court judges in Washington expressed deep skepticism Tuesday that the former president was immune from prosecution on charges that he plotted to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
The panel of three judges, two of whom were appointed by President Joe Biden, also questioned whether they had jurisdiction to consider the appeal at this point in the case, raising the prospect that Trump's appeal could be dismissed.
During lengthy arguments, the judges repeatedly pressed Trump's lawyer to defend claims that Trump was shielded from criminal charges for acts that he says fell within his official duties as president. That argument was rejected last month by the lower-court judge overseeing the case against Trump, and the appeals judges suggested through their questions that they, too, were dubious that the Founding Fathers envisioned absolute immunity for presidents after they leave office.
“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, an appointee of former President George H.W. Bush.
The outcome could carry enormous ramifications both for the landmark criminal case against Trump and for the broader, and legally untested, question of whether an ex-president can be prosecuted for actions taken in the White House. It will also likely set the stage for further appeals before the U.S. Supreme Court, which last month declined a request to weigh in but could still get involved later.
A swift decision is crucial for special counsel Jack Smith and his team, who are eager to get the case — now paused pending the appeal — to trial before the November election.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Why would you expect Judges from DC to rule any different.
The fact of the matter is that neither President Trump or the majority of the people so called January 6 guilty did in fact violate any laws. Questioning joes validity included.
The real crimes were committed by the so called law enforcement inkluding murdering Ashly Babbit.
The only "paradox" in this idiot's statement is that she fails to define the "criminial law" that was violated...
Guilty until proven innocent.
Does Trump believe Biden could order him terminated and be immune from any legal consequence. If a POTUS is above the law then America is no different than Stalin’s USSR. Nixon made a similar argument in his conversations with David Frost. Defending his actions, which IMO, were no big deal, he described POTUS as Sovereign. A description most of the founding fathers, well maybe not John Adams , would have been disappointed to hear.
Well he would be immune if his last name were Biden, but since its Trump its to the gulags he goes
Why would you expect Judges from DC to rule any different.“
Yep, any testimony might as well be in Italian because these DC hacks decided before anyone even sat down.
Does Trump believe Biden could order him terminated and be immune from any legal consequence. If a POTUS is above the law then America is no different than Stalin’s USSR. Nixon made a similar argument in his conversations with David Frost. Defending his actions, which IMO, were no big deal, he described POTUS as Sovereign. A description most of the founding fathers, well maybe not John Adams , would have been disappointed to hear.
Apology for 2nd post. Inadvertent
Whereas, it is acknowledged that the period from January 20, 2017, at 12:00 p.m. to January 20, 2021, at 12:00 p.m. constitutes the term served by the President of the United States;
Whereas, during this term, the President made decisions and took actions in accordance with the powers vested in the office;
Whereas, recognizing the importance of maintaining the functioning of the executive branch and upholding the principle of separation of powers;
Be it resolved by the Congress of the United States that actions undertaken by the President of the United States during the aforementioned period shall be acknowledged with a level of immunity from legal proceedings, provided such actions were within the scope of the presidential duties and powers.
This resolution is enacted with the understanding that it does not absolve any sitting or future President from accountability for actions beyond the specified timeframe.
When will they go after Clinton , Obama and Biden they committed real crimes ?
> The only “paradox” in this idiot’s statement is that she
> fails to define the “criminial law” that was violated...
The “law” that was “violated” was a Georgia RICO law, being twisted and tortured to include a POTUS calling the Georgia SoS to ask what happened to Trump votes that disappeared and where the Biden votes came from that seemed to appear from nowhere.
According to the democrats running the Georgia DA office, that’s a violation of the Georgia RICO law.
What a steaming pant load!
"violate criminal law" -- Show me the charges and the convictions!!
There was flagrant Democrat cheating all over the country and a POTUS is not allowed to question their flagrant cheating? Yet scores of Democrats have done the exact same thing all over the country up to and including election of the president? The USA is so lost.
And the REAL CRIME was the rampant and flagrant Democrat cheating all over the country in the 2020 election including states not following their own election laws and violating their own state constitutions.
The argument is not that he as “above the law”.
The argument is that faithfully executing his duties as president has to supersede state and local laws.
For example, the president cannot be indicted for violating local and state traffic laws when he orders his driver to exceed speed limits and run stop signs to arrive at a venue on time.
States and localities typically assist a POTUS in “violating” these laws.
Trump was faithfully executing the duties of his office when pursuing voting irregularities in Georgia by calling the SoS to ask him where the Trump votes suddenly disappeared to and where the Biden votes suddenly appeared from.
+1
I would think impeachment in the House and conviction in the Senate to be prerequisites for indictment for actions while in office.
I wouldn’t have thought this remedy was appropriate after a POTUS had left office, but since Nancy demonstrated that former Presidents can be impeached, it then follows that the resulting line of impeachment->conviction->indictment must be in place, otherwise what’s the point of an impeachment after leaving office?
“that the former president was immune from prosecution on charges that he plotted to overturn the results of the 2020 election.”
The overthrow was the stolen election. He was insisting on justice and accuracy. Recovering the money stolen in a bank robbery is NOT “overturning the result” of the bank robbery.
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