OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Former President Donald Trump expressed optimism following the recent hearing at the U.S. Supreme Court. During the hearing, his legal team argued for “presidential immunity” regarding charges brought against him by special counsel Jack Smith.
After sitting for hours in a Manhattan courtroom where he is defending himself against 34 felony counts, Trump spoke to reporters and said that he thinks it was “made clear” that a president “has to have immunity.”
Trump had requested to attend the arguments in Washington, D.C., but New York Judge Juan Merchan denied the request and mandated that the former president must be present in his Manhattan courtroom for each day of his criminal trial. The charges against Trump allege that he falsified business records to hide hush money payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal.
“I was forced to be here, and I’m glad I was because it was a very interesting day in a certain way,” Trump told reporters. “The U.S. Supreme Court had a monumental hearing on immunity and the immunity having to do with presidential immunity. And I think it was made clear, I hope it is very clear, that a president has to have immunity.”
Trump repeated his past claim that without immunity, presidents would be reduced to just a “ceremonial” position.
“That’s not what the founders had in mind,” he said. “We want presidents that can get quite amazing—quite amazing.” He added that the Supreme Court justices “were on their game.”
“So let’s see how that turns out,” he said. “But again, I say presidential immunity is very powerful. Presidential immunity is imperative, or you practically won’t have a country anymore.”
The justices are expected to issue their ruling in June. Some legal analysts have speculated that the justices could grant Trump partial immunity for acts while in office while also remanding the case to a lower court for reconsideration under their guidelines.
Justice Neil Gorsuch argued during the hearing that former presidents ought to enjoy some immunity from subsequent attacks if they leave office.
“It didn’t matter what the president’s motives were; that’s something courts shouldn’t get engaged in … I am concerned about future uses of criminal law to target political opponents based on accusations about their motives,” the Supreme Court justice said on April 25.
Gorsuch, Trump’s first of three Supreme Court appointees, hinted during the hearing that if justices decide not to hold that presidents should have some degree of immunity, then future presidents may be able to pardon themselves before leaving office. He also said he didn’t want to decide whether or not a president could exercise that power, as the Epoch Times noted.
“We’ve never answered whether a president can do that; happily, it’s never been presented to us,” Gorsuch said of whether a president can issue a pardon to himself before leaving office.
“What would happen if presidents were under fear that their successors would criminally prosecute them for their acts in office?” Gorsuch also asked, citing a hypothetical situation in which former President Barack Obama could face prosecution for ordering a drone strike that killed civilians.
He and several other conservative-leaning justices said that they were less concerned about President Trump’s charges but more concerned about the Supreme Court’s ruling on immunity in general.
“We’re writing a rule for the ages,” he stated.
“Whatever we decide is going to apply to all future presidents,” Justice Samuel Alito added.
Chief Justice John Roberts was among the justices who hinted that presidents shouldn’t be exempt from prosecution in any capacity, reports said.
During a recent broadcast of “Life, Liberty, and Levin,” Fox News host Mark Levin cautioned President Joe Biden that he should hope that Donald Trump wins his Supreme Court immunity appeal.
The former President and current Republican nominee is appealing to the Supreme Court, arguing that he cannot be charged for any alleged crimes he may have committed during his term as President due to his presidential immunity. This appeal has significantly delayed Trump’s DC criminal trial, which is being prosecuted by Special Counsel Jack Smith.
Trump currently faces three other criminal indictments in three different jurisdictions for various charges, including handling classified material and attempting to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
Towards the end of the program, Levin warned that Biden should be hoping for Trump’s success in the appeal because he has a “long list” of “crimes” committed by the current President.
“Joe Biden, you better damn well hope that you lose that Supreme Court decision. You better damn well hope that immunity for your so-called official acts after you leave office protects you when you leave office, because I’m making a long list of the crimes that you’ve committed and the constitutional violations. Whether it’s the border and the deaths and the damage and the slavery that’s taking place there as a result of you,” Levin said.
“Whether it’s your violation of federal law, the Empowerment Act, withholding munitions that were passed by Congress, a clear violation of federal law. Let the dust off the Espionage Act. Oh, yeah. Because we have a report that says that you violated and on multiple grounds, a matter of fact, you sold out your country to a publisher for $8 million, spewing classified information from the government. It’s a long list, Joe. You better damn well hope you lose that immunity case in the Supreme Court,” Levin added.
