Federal appeals court rules Trump doesn't have broad immunity from prosecution
Federal appeals court rules Trump doesn't have broad immunity from prosecution
Now we just gotta wait for the inevitable stupid appeal to SCOTUS, and have it done with.
I believe he can request an en banc hearing, which he definitely will, because it will delay the proceedings further.
they would have ruled that the President is functionally an absolute monarch.
And then Dark Brandon activates Seal Team Six for elephant hunting season.
IIRC it takes 4 of them to agree to take up a case. If they did they could decide to fast track it which who knows how much that would delay the trial. Weeks or a couple months.
If they tried to put it on their regular schedule who knows when you’d even have a ruling as the court typically goes into recess at the end of June and doesn’t come back until October.
if 4 of them decide to take the appeal, I suspect the other 5 would make it an expedited schedule to not delay the trial even more.
also keep in mind, this thursday scotus is hearing the colorado 14th amendment case and the deadline for this appeal is monday. I really don’t think scotus is going to destroy the little credibility they have with the 14th amendment case and then completely end their relevance by taking this appeal since the only logical reason they would take the appeal would be to overturn the decision.
They could potentially accept an appeal and wait to hear it until next Fall and then not rule on it until after the election, if they’re so inclined, unfortunately. That would mean if Trump was elected he could try and nullify it by self pardoning or ordering his attorney general to drop the charges (not supposed to do that, but it hasn’t stopped Trump from trying to directly order around his attorney general before).
The supreme court could choose to hear it quicker, or they could just deny the appeal outright without hearing the case. Though all it takes is four justices want to hear it for the appeal to be accepted.
First of all nobody should accept a self-pardon as legitimate.
But beyond that, the 14A says how someone can regain their eligibility to hold office, and a pardon isn’t listed as an option. If anything, accepting a pardon would cement his ineligibility because it’s an admission of guilt.
Ah yes. History is inevitable.
Except that its not and they absolutely could have ruled some other way.
Nothing is guaranteed.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has ruled that Donald Trump does not enjoy broad immunity from federal prosecution, a major legal setback for the former president who almost certainly will appeal.
The ruling comes a month after lawyers for Trump argued made sweeping claims that he enjoyed immunity from federal prosecution, claims that lawyers for the special counsel said would “undermine democracy” and give presidents license to commit crimes while in the White House, such as accepting bribes for directing government contracts or selling nuclear secrets to a foreign adversary.
That’s quite a beating, President Drink Bleach was administered. The article is with the read. The judges gave excellent examples of why presidents shouldn’t, you know, be criminals.
He’ll appeal as much as he can. But I cannot see him succeeding beyond delaying.
What the hell is the argument for immunity?
It’s the well-established “throw shit at wall, hope it sticks” principle of legal argumentation.
I started typing a joke comment about how the “term of art” was “kitchen sink defense,” but then I remembered that it actually is a bit of a term of art.
I trolled myself and am not sure how to feel about this.
The argument is that~~ it’s hurting Trump’s feelings~~ might keep him out of federal prison and that’s why he should be able to do whatever he wants without question.
Fixed the stakes for you.
Auf YouTube findest du großartige Videos und erstklassige Musik. Außerdem kannst du eigene Inhalte hochladen und mit Freunden oder mit der ganzen Welt teilen.
the argument is the fucking moron’s understanding of the president (that the president can do whatever whenever and no one can do anything about it). I had that same understanding of the president up until maybe the 2nd grade.
and that’s the point of how batshit bonkers this theory was. 77 year old trump was forcing his lawyers (because I cannot in good conscience believe that lawyers who have not committed sanctionable offenses actually believe this) to advance a theory about the office of the presidency that your average 10 year old could easily dismiss (just noting I wasn’t 10 in the 2nd grade but I was in the smart kid classes, so I’m giving average kids another 2 years).
the really over the top stupid side point of this argument is that the republican party is trying to impeach the current president for actions they say he made during(? after? do they even know?) the time he was vice president and none of them, the elected ones at least, are saying anything about trump which shows how ethereal at best that argument is.
A quick reading of the decision seems like it's very thorough and hits every point. This may be good enough that the Supreme Court doesn't even take it up.
Except:
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.
Also:
In relevant part, the district court rejected Trump’s claim of executive immunity from criminal prosecution, holding that “[f]ormer Presidents enjoy no special conditions on their federal criminal liability.” United States v. Trump, — F. Supp. 3d —, 2023 WL 8359833, at *3 (D.D.C. Dec. 1, 2023). It concluded that “[t]he Constitution’s text, structure, and history do not support” the existence of such an immunity, id., and that it “would betray the public interest” to grant a former President “a categorical exemption from criminal liability” for allegedly “attempting to usurp the reins of government.” Id. at *12.
Finally…
as the Supreme Court has unequivocally explained:
No man in this country is so high that he is above the law. No officer of the law may set that law at defiance with impunity. All the officers of the government, from the highest to the lowest, are creatures of the law and are bound to obey it. It is the only supreme power in our system of government, and every man who by accepting office participates in its functions is only the more strongly bound to submit to that supremacy, and to observe the limitations which it imposes upon the exercise of the authority which it gives.
Greatest works of poetry of all time:
William Carlos Williams, ‘The Red Wheelbarrow’
T. S. Eliot, ‘The Waste Land’
Robert Frost, ‘The Road Not Taken’
Gwendolyn Brooks, ‘We Real Cool’
US Court of Appeals v Donald J Trump
Thanks!
Who might analyze this at length, any YouTubers or podcasters? I’m thinking Leonard French or The Weeds…
Legal Eagle has been doing some good commentary videos on the slew of Trump legal stuff.
Hey everybody! Guess what it’s time for?
I seriously need to save this image so I don’t have to download it each time.
That image shows up as a lemmy.world URL for me. Does Lemmy cache images somehow?
I would love to have Lemmy host a copy of a Biden “I Did That!” Sticker for every time we hear about the economy doing better.
What you say is rational and is something I should do. And yet…
(Actually, I just bookmarked it.)