Contrary to what former US President Donald Trump would have the American public believe, no president enjoys absolute immunity from criminal prosecution. To suggest otherwise is to reject a bedrock principle of American democracy: the president is not a monarch.
BATON ROUGE – Facing criminal indictments in connection with a hush-money payment to an adult-film actress and his efforts to overturn the result of the 2020 US presidential election, Donald Trump claims that, as a former president, he enjoys blanket immunity from prosecution. The US Supreme Court will now decide if he is right. US Special Counsel Jack Smith’s filing to the Court makes a convincing argument that the weight of history – and three precedents, in particular – invalidate Trump’s claim.
BATON ROUGE – Facing criminal indictments in connection with a hush-money payment to an adult-film actress and his efforts to overturn the result of the 2020 US presidential election, Donald Trump claims that, as a former president, he enjoys blanket immunity from prosecution. The US Supreme Court will now decide if he is right. US Special Counsel Jack Smith’s filing to the Court makes a convincing argument that the weight of history – and three precedents, in particular – invalidate Trump’s claim.