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·
    10 months 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”.