Trump cites his founding fathers to explain to the Supreme Court why he should not be prosecuted

WASHINGTON – Former President Donald Trump highlighted America’s Founding Fathers’ concerns about hyper-partisanship to argue in a Supreme Court filing Monday that he should not be prosecuted for trying to cancel the 2020 elections.

In Trump’s final brief laying out his case before the Supreme Court to hear oral arguments on April 25, his lawyers cited writings by George Washington and James Madison to support his argument that opening the door to presidential prosecutions would incite political abuses.

Washington, in his farewell address, warned against “the alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of vengeance natural to partisan dissensions, which, at different times and in different countries, has perpetrated the most horrible enormities.

Madison warned that “the diseases of faction…have proven deadly to other popular governments,” Trump’s lawyers wrote.

“The radical innovation of prosecuting a former president for official acts will fulfill these grim prophecies,” the lawyers concluded.

Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith dismissed those concerns, saying that chief justices can operate effectively without criminal immunity, something neither the framers of the Constitution nor any other president contemplated.

“To the contrary, a fundamental principle of our constitutional order is that no one is above the law, including the president,” Smith wrote in his brief previewing the oral arguments filed last week. “Nothing in constitutional text, history, precedent, or policy considerations supports the absolute immunity sought by petitioner.”

Trump, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, wants the Supreme Court to dismiss his indictment on federal charges that he tried to steal the 2020 election, arguing that the criminal prosecution poses a “mortal threat” to the independence of the presidency.

Three of those nine justices were appointed by Trump when he was president, giving the Court a conservative supermajority made up of six Republican appointees.

Related: A former cop shouted “charge” on January 6. How his Supreme Court case could help Trump.

Even if Trump loses his appeal, the Supreme Court may not reach a decision quickly enough for a trial to take place in time and a verdict to be rendered before the November election.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to four federal charges in the Supreme Court case — three for conspiracy and one for obstruction — for falsely alleging voter fraud and attempting to overturn the legitimate election results.

Trump has repeatedly claimed the accusations were politically motivated. If he returns to the White House, he could appoint an attorney general who would seek to dismiss all pending federal charges. Trump could also simply pardon himself, although his authority to do so is debated.

But Trump’s desired outcome is for the Supreme Court to dismiss the indictment entirely, an outcome that experts say is unlikely.

While former presidents enjoy broad immunity from civil suits for official actions taken while in the White House, Trump has attempted to claim complete immunity from criminal prosecution.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump cites Founding Fathers to argue for immunity at Supreme Court.