WASHINGTON — Donald Trump’s lawyers argued Tuesday that the president can’t be convicted of a crime without first being indicted — but a panel of appeals judges seemed skeptical.
“Can a president who orders SEAL Team 6 to kill a political rival (and) not be charged, will he face criminal charges?” asked Judge Florence Pan during a 90-minute hearing in the DC Circuit Court of Appeals.
“Quite a yes,” Trump’s lawyer John Sauer replied as the 77-year-old former president looked on.
Sauer claimed that the framers of the Constitution created presidential immunity to avoid “politically motivated prosecutions” and repeatedly argued that the only exception would be if Trump had been impeached and removed from office first.
“What kind of world do we live in” if the president can use the state to kill a political rival and not be prosecuted for it, asked assistant special counsel James Pearce, arguing on behalf of special counsel Jack Smith.
Donald Trump’s lawyers are expected to argue that he should be immune from charges that he illegally tried to overturn the results of the 2020 election in court on Tuesday. AP An entourage with Trump arrives in federal court for a hearing on the extent of his presidential immunity in Washington, DC, on January 9, 2024. AFP via Getty Images Trump has pleaded not guilty to charges including defrauding the government and obstructing Congress. AP
Pearce also warned that it would be a “scary future” if a president could not be held accountable for crimes and said the blanket presidential immunity that Sauer is proposing would put the commander in chief “above the law.”
“He’s not above the law,” Pearce said. “A former president does not enjoy immunity from criminal prosecution.”
But Sauer hit back later in the hearing, saying: “The future is scary [Pearce] impeachment where presidents are rarely, if ever, impeached because they have to be impeached and convicted first is what we’ve been living under for the past 235 years.
“That’s not a scary future. That’s our republic.”
The real estate tycoon entered the courtroom through a side door and stared straight ahead throughout the proceedings as his lawyers made impassioned arguments to the three-judge panel.
The appearance marks Trump’s first return to court since he was arraigned in August on four charges related to his attempt to stay in power after losing the 2020 election to Joe Biden.
Sauer opened his argument by dramatically claiming that if Trump were to be impeached for his official actions as president, it would “open a Pandora’s box from which this country may never recover.”
In civil cases, former presidents can invoke broad immunity if the allegations relate to actions they took as part of their official White House duties.
Trump lawyer John Sauer (right) claims that the framers of the Constitution created presidential immunity to avoid “politically motivated prosecutions.” AP This sketch shows Trump, seated right, listening as his attorney D. John Sauer, standing, speaks before the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024, in Washington. AP Special Counsel Jack Smith has accused Trump of a multi-pronged conspiracy to prevent the counting and certification of his 2020 defeat, culminating in the January 6 attack. AP
But Trump’s case enters uncharted legal territory because no former president has ever been charged before.
Smith’s office argued there was no bar to prosecutors prosecuting someone who had been indicted and acquitted by Congress.
Dan Smith said his office’s allegations differed from the sedition charges that the House of Representatives impeached Trump following the Capitol riots on January 6, 2021.
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The judges will issue a decision later but the court previously said it planned to proceed with the case by asking both sides to file papers on an accelerated schedule including Saturday’s deadline.
The criminal case against the 45th president has been delayed until the issue of presidential immunity is decided and could push back the trial date scheduled for March 4, possibly until after the 2024 election.
D.C. federal judge Tanya Chutkan — who oversaw the hearing — previously rejected Trump’s motion for presidential immunity, saying the high office is not a “get out of jail free pass.”
After Trump’s team appealed, Smith lost a bid last month to get a Supreme Court ruling on the matter in his bid to keep the current trial date.
The immunity decision could have ripple effects in other cases against Trump.
The front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination faces three other criminal cases and two other important civil cases in three other states.
The embattled candidate was charged in New York with concealing hush money paid to Stormy Daniels to keep her quiet about her alleged affair with Trump while he was married to current wife Melania Trump.
The appearance marked Trump’s first return to court since he was arraigned in August on four charges related to his attempt to stay in power after the 2020 election. AP Former US President Donald Trump was seen getting into a vehicle after a brief press conference at a hotel, following his hearing in District Court. Reuters
The case is scheduled for March 25.
He is also accused of conspiring to illegally overturn the results of the 2020 Georgia election and he is accused in a Florida federal court of hiding national security documents at his Mar-a-Lago home after he left office.
A verdict is expected later this month in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ civil fraud trial against Trump, the Trump Organization and others.
Trump could face a $370 million penalty in the case.
With Postal wire
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
