Politics
Should the Supreme Court Dismiss Trump’s Federal Indictment?
Should the Supreme Court Dismiss Trump’s Federal Indictment?
Here’s The Scoop
Former President Donald Trump’s legal team has urged the Supreme Court to dismiss the federal indictment charging him with conspiring to overturn the 2020 election results.
They argue that Trump enjoyed sweeping immunity from prosecution for official acts during his presidency, and that denying this immunity would incapacitate future presidents with blackmail and extortion.
However, prosecutors, led by special counsel Jack Smith, have insisted that Trump’s actions related to the 2020 election do not constitute official acts by a president, but rather were actions taken in his capacity as a candidate to overturn the election for his own benefit.
Two lower courts have already rejected Trump’s immunity argument, but the Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case in the hope of settling the larger constitutional question.
Trump’s lawyers also told the justices that if they don’t accept his immunity arguments, they should send the case back to the district court for additional “fact-finding,” resulting in even lengthier delays before a trial could be scheduled.
In their brief, Trump’s lawyers underscored that for the first 244 years of the constitutional republic, “no former, or current president faced criminal charges for his official acts.”
They cited Nixon v. Fitzgerald, a Supreme Court case from 1982, which determined that presidents enjoy absolute immunity from liability for civil damages based on official acts — but did not grant absolute immunity for criminal charges stemming from actions taken while in office.
Trump’s team also insisted that the president was acting in his official capacity to assess whether the “election was tainted by fraud and irregularities.” However, US District Judge Tanya Chutkan rejected his arguments last December, concluding presidents aren’t entitled to a “lifelong get-out-of-jail-free pass.”
As the Supreme Court faces a docket loaded with politically charged cases this session, it’s worth noting that Trump appointed one-third of the justices on the bench.
The presumptive Republican nominee is the first current or former president to get criminally indicted and is facing a total of 88 counts spanning four indictments. Trump has denied wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty across the board.
What do you think? Let us know by participating in our poll, or join the discussion in the comment section below!
bruce
March 23, 2024 at 7:12 pm
The New York supreme court has shown it is driven by political reasons numerous times. When a court or judge has a biased personal opinion on proceedings then they should not be judge and bow to a higher authority not a biased president.
Chuck
March 25, 2024 at 7:11 pm
So true
Ron C
March 23, 2024 at 7:44 pm
Trump was the top law enforcement officer in the nation, and the chuckle heads in the DOJ are saying he can’t examine the fraud evidence that was everywhere to see! The is preposterous on its face and all the way to the bone marrow?
Aline Adside
March 23, 2024 at 7:53 pm
All I’ve gotta say is…’I can’t wait for Trump to get back where he belongs, in the Oval Office as our TRUE PRESIDENT, so that he would obliterate EVIL, with God All Mighty’s Hand guiding him.
Jerry C.
March 24, 2024 at 4:46 am
He LOST the election! He is GUILTY of this charge! The LAST thing this country, or the world, needs is this megalomaniacal clown back in the White House! Too bad there is no REAL Republican running this time around, just this idiot…
KlS
March 24, 2024 at 10:38 am
You have a serious problem you need to address. Mainly the inability to recognize truth. The clown is in the White House NOW. Or I guess puppet might be a better description. President Trump did not lose the election, it was taken from him, but Democrats are rarely punished for their illegal acts.
Suzy-Q
March 29, 2024 at 9:29 am
Jerry C. is a Donkey, Hee Haw & shutty your pie hole. Biden the Blunderer, ’nuff said!!
Richard Smith
March 24, 2024 at 5:30 pm
How can any citizen of America believe Trump is fit to be in charge of our country when he is a draft dodger that stood by the graves of our dead military men in France and called them suckers. His daddy was a rich man and bought his sorry butt out of serving our Country.
Suzy-Q
March 29, 2024 at 9:31 am
Oh boy, another Donkey, Hee Haw!! The one in office AKA Biden the Blunderer is a traitor to this country & us sane people know this. You are as blind & nutty as the one in office now!! Good grief!!
Mayji
April 2, 2024 at 12:50 pm
Yes drop all charges, reimburse him everything this sham has cost him and get hmm back in the White House. Joe Biden should be in jail. He has done more damage to America in 3 years than all Presidents before him and we’ve had some real doozies. 8 years of a died in the wool traitor who set the stage for this moron that we have now. He was never even inaugurated. Democrats get away with it and Republicans let em WWIII is coming. America is the laughing stock of the whole world. Thanks to the lacks of Joe an “Dr.” Jill Biden and now zillionaire Osamabama.