The Total/Absolute Collapse of Trump’s Preposterous “Total/Absolute Immunity” Claims
‘America Rises’ Post #25: Saturday, December 2nd, 2023
For as long as Trump has been in the political realm, he has made it clear that his view of Presidential power (at least when he occupies the office) is one that is unchecked and absolute. He even stated this openly multiple times during his time in the White House.
On July 12th of 2019, Trump claimed: “It gives me all of these rights at a level that nobody has ever seen before.” (Do you think you are the first president of the United States, Donald? And no, you do not have the right to lifelong immunity from crimes)
On July 23rd of 2019, Trump claimed: “I have the right to do whatever I want as President, BUT I don’t even talk about that.” (No, you don’t and you just talked about it, dumbass)
On April 13th of 2020, Trump claimed: “When somebody is President of the United States, the authority is total. And that’s the way it’s got to be.” (No, it isn’t, and no, it is literally not the way it’s got to be)
He continued to claim “absolute” and/or “total” immunity after leaving office (see ‘Truth Social’ post below from December 26th of 2022).
So it is no surprise that he has relied heavily on similar claims in his defense of the actions for which he now faces criminal indictment, such as his attempts to subvert the peaceful transfer of power and the will of the American people on January 6th of 2021 as well as his illegal retention of classified and top secret national security documents that were stored in non-secure locations throughout Mar-a-Lago.
Unfortunately for Trump, the notion that a President has “total/absolute immunity” from any and all accountability for their actions taken while in office is one born purely of fantasy by someone who aspires to be a dictator in a democratic republic that was established in large part to escape such monarchical rule and absolute power. The Constitution of the United States goes to great lengths to prevent this by establishing a separation of powers, a system of checks and balances between them, and a judicial system that operates independently of the executive and legislative branches. The very notion that any one individual could not be held accountable by our criminal justice system and thus be placed above the law is inherently anti-democratic, un-American, and unconstitutional.
While no other President in our 247-year history has ever been criminally indicted or prosecuted, so there is no precedent to go by on this matter, neither any section of the Constitution nor any statute of Congress prohibits the indictment or prosecution of a sitting president, much less a former president. There is a Department of Justice memorandum that says that they will not prosecute presidents while they are in office, but even this is limited to the time they occupy the White House and the specifics of their actions. This is why even though Special Counsel Robert Mueller didn’t bring charges against Trump at the conclusion of his investigation into Russia’s attack on our election in 2016—because Trump endlessly obstructed that investigation and proving a conspiracy beyond a reasonable doubt was a very high bar to clear even if he had cooperated—he explicitly stated that Trump could be charged after he left office. This is because the Constitution grants ZERO criminal protections to former government officials. Even the fact that the Constitution’s impeachment clause allows courts to try a president after his removal implies that courts must be able to try him, even if he has been acquitted of the same charges in the senate.
In addition, no court has ever held that a president is immune from responsibility or accountability for crimes committed while in office. Most arguments alleging “presidential immunity” at a minimum require the conduct to have been within the scope of a President’s official duties or responsibilities as Commander-in-Chief. A criminal conspiracy to defraud the United States of America, obstruct the official function of government, obstruct an official proceeding of Congress, and disenfranchise or outright negate millions of American citizens’ right to vote or have their votes counted cannot possibly be considered part of a president’s official duties.
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