Former President Trump’s legal team suggested Tuesday that even a president directing SEAL Team Six to kill a political opponent would be an action barred from prosecution given a former executive&…

Former President Trump’s legal team suggested Tuesday that even a president directing SEAL Team Six to kill a political opponent would be an action barred from prosecution given a former executive’s broad immunity to criminal prosecution.

The hypothetical was presented to Trump attorney John Sauer who answered with a “qualified yes” that a former president would be immune from prosecution on that matter or even on selling pardons.

  • Pipoca@lemmy.world
    2·
    1 year ago

    That doesn’t quite work.

    Trump’s lawyers argument is that presidents are immune from criminal prosecution on any official act, even if that official act is illegal or unconstitutional; that the only remedy is impeachment.

    The judge brought up ordering seal team 6 to assinate a rival as an example of an obviously illegal official act. Trump’s lawyers response was “obviously he’d be impeached, but yeah, I guess if he weren’t he’d be immune from prosecution”.

    Shooting Trump at the debate would be a prosecutable private action, according to Trump’s lawyer. What Biden would have to do is to tell seal team 6 “If Trump gets on this stage, shoot him”.