Special counsel Jack Smith on Monday asked the Supreme Court to reject former President Donald Trump’s request for immunity in the 2020 federal election interference case.
Smith, in a 66-page brief filed with the high court, argued that Trump’s “new and radical” immunity claim went against the “fundamental principle of our constitutional order,” which is “that no one is above the law, including the president.” .”
“The constitutional duty of the President to see that the laws are faithfully executed does not imply a general right to violate them,” the special prosecutor wrote to the justices, laying out a series of arguments that he said refute the Trump’s claim that he is immune from sanctions. lawsuits.
“The Founders never approved criminal immunity for a former president, and every president from the founding to the modern era knew that after leaving office they faced potential criminal liability for crimes. official acts,” Smith said.
“The closest historical analog is President Nixon’s official conduct during Watergate, and his acceptance of a pardon implied that he and President Ford recognized that a former president was subject to prosecution,” he said. added.
The special counsel called it “radical” that Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, suggested that “unless a criminal statute specifically names the president, the law does not apply.”
Smith noted that Trump’s interpretation of presidential immunity “would free the president from virtually all criminal laws — even crimes such as bribery, murder, treason and sedition.”
The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on Trump’s immunity request the week of April 22.
In February, a federal appeals panel unanimously rejected Trump’s argument, finding that the former president did not have “unlimited power to commit crimes that would neutralize the most fundamental check of the executive branch “.
Trump’s lawyers had argued that the former president could not be charged by Smith because his 2020 election machinations involved his official duties.
They also claimed that the impeachment of Trump by the House of Representatives following the January 6, 2021, riots at the U.S. Capitol meant that the current charges against him amounted to double jeopardy.
Last summer, a federal grand jury indicted Trump on four counts — conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstructing and attempting to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights – for his alleged attempts to overturn his 2020 election defeat against Joe Biden.
Smith accused Trump of making “knowingly false” claims of election fraud in a desperate attempt to stay in power.
If the conservative-majority Supreme Court rules in Trump’s favor, the federal charges against him could be dismissed.
New York Post
