{"id":2230059,"date":"2024-04-25T13:14:09","date_gmt":"2024-04-25T17:14:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/supreme-court-seems-open-to-middle-ground-on-trump-immunity\/"},"modified":"2024-04-25T13:15:52","modified_gmt":"2024-04-25T17:15:52","slug":"supreme-court-seems-open-to-middle-ground-on-trump-immunity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/supreme-court-seems-open-to-middle-ground-on-trump-immunity\/","title":{"rendered":"Supreme Court signals willingness to consider middle ground on Trump&#8217;s immunity"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fsupreme-court-seems-open-to-middle-ground-on-trump-immunity%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2230059&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The Supreme\u200d Court\u200d appeared willing\u200c to consider a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/alameda-the-firm-at-the-heart-of-ftxs-catastrophic-collapse\/\" title=\"Alameda: The Firm at the Heart of FTX\u2019s \u201cCatastrophic Collapse\u201d\">middle-ground approach<\/a> regarding Trump&#8217;s bid for presidential immunity. Justices scrutinized arguments around presidential immunity, with differing perspectives\u2063 emerging during the proceedings. The debate touched on the distinction between \u2064official and private actions of presidents,\u200c adding \u2062complexity to the evaluation of Trump&#8217;s immunity \u200bclaims. The Supreme Court was open to a balanced approach\u2063 regarding Trump&#8217;s \u200cimmunity request. \u200cJustices debated presidential immunity, revealing diverse viewpoints.\u2062 The discussion highlighted the divide between official and private presidential actions, complicating the assessment of Trump&#8217;s immunity assertions.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/supreme-court\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Supreme Court<\/a> on Thursday appeared open to a middle-ground approach to a bid by former President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Donald Trump<\/a> to invoke presidential immunity to shake off his criminal charges.<\/p>\n<p>The nine justices asked Trump\u2019s attorney, D. John Sauer, pointed questions about whether presidents had \u201cabsolute immunity\u201d from prosecution as they weighed Trump\u2019s argument that he was protected under the Constitution from being charged for his actions after the 2020 election. Arguing on behalf of special counsel <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/jack-smith\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Jack Smith<\/a> was veteran litigant Michael Dreeben.<\/p>\n<figure><figcaption>Activist Stephen Parlato of Boulder, Colo., right, joins other protesters outside the Supreme Court as the justices prepare to hear arguments over whether\u00a0Donald Trump is immune from prosecution in a case charging him with plotting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, April 25, 2024. (AP Photo\/J. Scott Applewhite)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Trump contends former presidents should have immunity from charges over actions they took in office and has said that Congress must secure a conviction during the impeachment process in order for any former president to face criminal charges for the same underlying conduct in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/law\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">court of law<\/a>. So far, two lower federal courts have disagreed with that legal argument.<\/p>\n<p>The Supreme Court justices ultimately appeared mixed on the outcome. They clearly did not want to dismiss the case against Trump outright based on his sweeping theory of presidential immunity. But several justices appeared skeptical of how the special counsel has framed the case.<\/p>\n<p>Sauer, who argued on behalf of Trump in lower court earlier this year, told the nine justices that the \u201cofficial stuff has to be expunged completely from the indictment before the case can go forward,\u201d referring to his belief that some alleged actions in the indictment fell under official acts of the presidency.<\/p>\n<p>But Sauer appeared to be dialing back some of what the former president\u2019s team has tried to argue in court before. Much of the argument surrounded whether Trump engaged in \u201cprivate\u201d conduct to allegedly subvert <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/2020-elections\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>an election<\/a>, which wouldn\u2019t be protected, versus \u201cofficial\u201d acts that would carry with them protection from prosecution.<\/p>\n<p>Trump\u2019s team previously said the entire indictment against him should be dismissed. But on Thursday, Sauer affirmed which pieces of the indictment could be tested in court, while acknowledging some could not.<\/p>\n<p>For example, Sauer said that Trump calling <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/Georgia\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Georgia<\/a> Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger about finding votes did not constitute an official act. But he said that calling the Republican National Committee about alternate electors or calling the Arizona house speaker to hold a hearing on fraud would be official acts.<\/p>\n<p>Sauer\u2019s outlining of these new aspects of Trump\u2019s argument appeared to show his effort to propose an immunity test or standard that the majority of the justices could reasonably adopt. The bulk of his discussion surrounded tests for what conduct qualifies as official acts versus non-official acts \u2014 a potential way for Trump to prolong his pretrial proceedings in the case.<\/p>\n<p>Trump\u2019s legal argument on Thursday appeared to garner the noticeable attention of Justices Neil Gorsuch, Samuel Alito, Brett Kavanaugh, Clarence Thomas, and Chief Justice <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/John-Roberts\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>John Roberts<\/a>, who appeared to be looking for an off-ramp to send the case back down to the trial court and instruct U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to weigh whether which acts in the four-count indictment were \u201cprivate\u201d or \u201cofficial\u201d acts.<\/p>\n<p>Roberts suggested during the arguments that perhaps the case could be remanded back to the appeals court rather than a trial court, making it less clear how the justices would rule on that component.<\/p>\n<p>At another point in the hearing, Kavanaugh pushed back on the special counsel\u2019s position that there is no reference in the Constitution to immunity for former presidents.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not explicit in the Constitution but also executive privilege is not explicit in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/Constitution\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Constitution<\/a>,\u201d Kavanaugh said, referencing an established idea that presidents may withhold documents and information from the other branches of government.<\/p>\n<p>The Democrat-appointed justices on the Supreme Court appeared more aligned with the government\u2019s position during the oral arguments, and they <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mccarthy-voices-real-concern-over-bidens-foreign-policies\/\" title=\"McCarthy Voices \u2018Real Concern\u2019 Over Biden\u2019s Foreign Policies\">raised grave concerns<\/a> about finding novel immunity for presidents.<\/p>\n<figure><figcaption>FILE \u2013 Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson stands as she and members of the Supreme Court pose for a new group portrait following her addition, at the Supreme Court building in Washington, Oct. 7, 2022. Jackson has written her first majority opinion for the Supreme Court. The opinion released Tuesday in a dispute between states over unclaimed money is one of roughly a half dozen she is expected to write by the time the court finishes its work for the summer, usually in late June. The decision was unanimous, though all the justices didn\u2019t join the whole opinion. (AP Photo\/J. Scott Applewhite, File)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cI think that we would have a really significant opposite problem if the president wasn\u2019t chilled,\u201d said Justice <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/Ketanji-Brown-Jackson\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Ketanji Brown Jackson<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Justice Elena Kagan, who held a somber gaze throughout much of the hearing, pushed Sauer on just how far presidential immunity could extend, raising a hypothetical scenario of a military coup by a former president.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow about if a president orders the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/military\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>military<\/a> to stage a coup?\u201d Kagan asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf it\u2019s an official act, there needs to be impeachment and conviction beforehand\u201d through Congress in order for that president to face criminal charges, Sauer said, adding that given how Kagan described that hypothetical, it \u201ccould well be\u201d an official act.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat sure sounds bad, doesn\u2019t it?\u201d Kagan said.<\/p>\n<p>Trump\u2019s trial court judge in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/Washington-DC\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Washington, D.C.<\/a>, was the first jurist to weigh Trump\u2019s claims of presidential immunity, and she ruled against them on Dec. 1, teeing off an exhaustive battle in which the former president has not yet seen favorable outcomes in his quest to dismiss four federal charges that accuse him of attempting to subvert the 2020 election results. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit also held that there is no immunity from prosecution for Trump.<\/p>\n<p>Later in the argument, the special counsel\u2019s lawyer, Dreeben, took the questions of the justices.<\/p>\n<p>Alito asked Dreeben that if the circuit court is right, why there wouldn\u2019t be a sea change that prompts future presidents to pardon themselves during their final days in office. The justice\u2019s question suggested that he might be sympathetic to Trump\u2019s argument that there aren\u2019t enough safeguards in the justice system to prevent him or other future <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/president\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>presidents<\/a> from being improperly prosecuted by the DOJ once out of office.<\/p>\n<p>After Alito pointed out how easy it is to secure an indictment by a grand jury, Dreeben responded by saying that sometimes a ground jury doesn\u2019t approve charges.<\/p>\n<figure><figcaption>FILE \u2013 Associate Justice Samuel Alito joins other members of the Supreme Court as they pose for a new group portrait, Oct. 7, 2022, at the Supreme Court building in Washington. Alito said in an interview he gave to the Wall Street Journal opinion pages, published Friday, July 28, 2023, that Congress lacks the power to impose a code of ethics on the Supreme Court, making him the first member of the court to take a public stand against proposals in Congress to toughen ethics rules for justices in response to scrutiny of their activities beyond the bench. (AP Photo\/J. Scott Applewhite, File)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cEvery once in a while, there\u2019s an eclipse, too,\u201d Alito snapped back, prompting laughter in the room.<\/p>\n<p>Dreeben argued that a \u201cpolitically driven prosecution\u201d would violate the Constitution and that built-in protections are already in place to ensure that Trump is given a fair process.<\/p>\n<p>Former President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/Richard-Nixon\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Richard Nixon<\/a> was also a key figure discussed in the hearing. Trump in part rests his arguments on a 1982 Supreme Court decision that found former presidents are entitled to immunity from civil litigation for actions taken in office. Trump contends the same protection should apply to a former president for criminal charges as well, because the same concerns cited in the Nixon decision pertaining to \u201cfunctioning of government\u201d should apply.<\/p>\n<p>Trump\u2019s trial for the Jan. 6 case was initially slated to begin on March 4, but Chutkan removed the trial from the calendar after it became clear the immunity battle would not conclude in time.<\/p>\n<figure><figcaption>Former President Donald Trump appears at Manhattan criminal court before his trial in New York, Thursday, April 25, 2024. (Spencer Platt\/Pool Photo via AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>As the arguments proceeded in the nation\u2019s capital, Trump was seated in a courtroom in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/Manhattan\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Manhattan<\/a> for his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/donald-trumps-criminal-hush-money-trial-set-for-march-25\/\" title=\"Trump's hush money trial scheduled for March 25\">criminal hush money trial<\/a> on Thursday while testimony continued from veteran tabloid publisher David Pecker. Trump had asked to skip out on his criminal trial for the day so he could sit in on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/justice-breyers-final-a-few-months-on-scotus-dominated-by-abortion-and-guns-cases\/\" title=\"Justice Breyer\u2019s Final A few months on SCOTUS Dominated by Abortion and Guns Cases\">high court session<\/a>, but his request was denied by the judge overseeing the Manhattan trial.<\/p>\n<p>Trump spoke about the arguments ahead of entering the courtroom in New York, lamenting that he could not be present and emphasizing the stakes of the arguments.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe argument on immunity is very important. The president has to have immunity. This has nothing to do with me. This has to do with a precedent in the future for 100 years from now,\u201d Trump said. \u201cIf you don\u2019t have immunity, you\u2019re not going to do anything. You\u2019re going to become a ceremonial president. You\u2019re just going to be doing nothing. You\u2019re not going to take any of the risks, both good and bad.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A decision in the case, <em>Trump v. United States<\/em>, could come down in the next 60 days. If the justices do agree to send the case back to a lower court to weigh which acts were official or not official, it could further delay Trump\u2019s trial as he mounts his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/2024-elections\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>2024 reelection bid<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Supreme Court showed openness to a middle-ground stance on Trump&#8217;s immunity bid. Justices questioned Trump&#8217;s attorney, D. John Sauer, on presidential &#8220;absolute immunity&#8221; against prosecution. This comes as they evaluate Trump&#8217;s defense against criminal charges<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3096,"featured_media":2230060,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/AP24116451994289-1024x683.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2230059","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/AP24116451994289-1024x683.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2230059","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3096"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2230059"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2230059\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2230060"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2230059"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2230059"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2230059"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}