Shear numbers do not reassure if they do not act.
Liberty is yesterday. Superiority is where it is at and for some to be superior, others must be inferior.
Electioneering outside a polling place?
That’s a paddlin’.
Lol!
Mark your calendars:
The U.S. Supreme Court has set April 25 as the date it will hear Donald Trump’s claim of presidential immunity from prosecution on charges related to his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss - the last day of oral arguments of its current term.
[bolding mine]
I view that as rather qualified good news. It could have easily been punted until after the election (though a decision still could face lengthy delays).
By law, the U.S. Supreme Court’s term begins on the first Monday in October and goes through the Sunday before the first Monday in October of the following year. The Court is, typically, in recess from late June/early July until the first Monday in October.
Trump’s lawyers apparently thought they found a killer quote from Brent Kavanaugh in a law journal, prior to his appointment:
“That’s gold, Jerry, gold!”
Well except if you read farther down in the article, where Kavanaugh doesn’t suggest that means presidential immunity:
Note to para-legals: read the entire article before citing it in your research brief for the senior partner.
Maybe if they send him a case of beer. I understand he likes beer.
Okay, this is interesting to me. Trump sued Gov. Kemp in Georgia during the 2020 fiasco, trying to decertify the election. This footnote in the Eastman disbarment order today stood out to me. I think it undercuts his “acting in his official capacity and therefore deserves immunity” argument.
The verification stated: “Personally appeared before me, a Notary Public, duly authorized by law to administer oaths, President Donald J. Trump, solely in his capacity as a candidate for President of the United States, who on oath says he has reviewed the Verified Complaint for Emergency Injunctive and Declaratory Relief and with regard to the facts contained therein, states that to the best of his knowledge and belief, and relying on the representations contained therein, the facts are true and correct where derived from his own knowledge and are believed to be true and correct where derived from the knowledge of others or from documents that are maintained in the course of business or are public records.”
page 26, fn 40.[edited]
Fascinating. I assume Mr Smith has this.
*fn40 (fixed)
Wow. Wonderful find. God bless the word “solely”.
I’m thinking the other election related cases Trump filed likely required verified complaints. Wonder what capacity Trump was using to verify those allegations, or if it’s even mentioned so clearly as it is here.
You can probably come up with a score of members of any large population to represent and speak vehemently on virtually any position, but …
It ain’t nothin’…
for those who would like to read fillings, here is a link to the immunity case at the supreme court.
Corrupt GOP SCOTUS gives Trump immunity for “official acts”, and says that you can’t examine motive when a President is acting under an explicit Constitutional authority, which would include the Commander in Chief clause. So, basically, a president can’t be prosecuted for ordering Seal Team Six to kill his political rival.
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/supreme-court-trump-immunity-jan-6-prosecution
That seems like good news for Biden. Looks like he can just do whatever he wants with Trump.
I don’t think this is correct. In all charges of the indictment (other than official communications with the AG about what crimes to investigate) the immunity question was remanded to the District Court to determine if (a) they fell within the presumptive immunity of official acts and (b) if that presumptive immunity was overcome for the specific facts of this case.
Definitely a win for Trump in delaying the case, and allowing some form of immunity for many official acts, but not an absolute one.
ETA: I would assume that the District Court will find that Trump is not immune for most of the charges and that for those where SCOTUS said he is immune that the Government has reached the burden of proving that the immunity is overcome by the facts. But of course that ruling will be appealed back to SCOTUS at some point - likely well after November, if Trump doesn’t win and kill it first.
IANAL – the Seal Team Six stuff came from this tweet:
The President deploying SEAL Team Six isn’t a regular occuring, even if official, duty. But what about appointing DOJ officials and ambassadors? Could the candidate bribe the President for an appointment, and since appointments are official duties, could the President freely take the bribe with immunity?
According to the Supreme Court, absolutely.
Also, it’s not just random Twitter lawyer who thinks so, also Justice Sotomayor (from her dissent, bolding mine):