Ahead of an April 25 Supreme Court hearing on whether former President Donald Trump has presidential immunity from criminal prosecution for his actions on Jan. 6, 2021, the 45th president took to his social media platform Truth Social to argue that if he doesn’t have immunity, neither does President Joe Biden.
In a chain of several posts, President Trump summarized the arguments that his attorneys will be presenting to the high court—in his absence.
President Trump won’t be in the Supreme Court courthouse on April 25, but he will be in court in New York some 200 miles away. A trial court judge has ordered President Trump to be present as a jury hears evidence in a case accusing him of falsifying business records in an attempt to influence the 2016 elections. New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan further ruled that evidence from President Trump’s time in office could be presented to the jury, rejecting his presidential immunity defense.
Presidential immunity is not outlined in the Constitution, but comes from a Supreme Court ruling after an Air Force contractor sued President Richard Nixon personally when the contractor lost his job. The high court ruled that a president enjoys absolute immunity for actions even in the “outer perimeter” of his office—in civil cases. The court has never addressed presidential immunity from criminal prosecution, and the April 25 hearing will be a historic one.
On Truth Social, President Trump argued that if a president doesn’t have immunity from criminal cases “it would be impossible for a president to properly function, putting the United States of America in great and everlasting danger!”
‘Nation-Destroying Ruling’
A federal appeals court had been dismissive of the retribution argument when it earlier this year rejected President Trump’s defense, finding that the scenario was unlikely as prosecutors would exercise discretion and judgment and not abuse their offices.“A Nation-destroying ruling like the one handed down by the D.C. Circuit cannot be allowed to stand,” President Trump wrote.
“It will become a Political Weapon used for Election Interference. Our Elections will be corrupted and under siege. So bad, and so dangerous for our Nation. SAVE PRESIDENTIAL IMMUNITY!” he added.
“This could actually lead to the extortion and blackmail of a President. The other side would say, ‘If you don’t do something, just the way we want it, we are going to go after you when you leave office, or perhaps even sooner,’” he added.
He said legal scholars were thankful the Supreme Court was tackling this issue. Last year, the Supreme Court initially declined to review President Trump’s defense at the special counsel’s request, instead allowing the appeals court to hear the appeal first, as it normally would. But after the appeals court rejected the defense earlier this year, the Supreme Court granted the special counsel’s second request to review the defense after President Trump’s attorneys applied to the high court for a stay the appeals court preemptively refused.
‘Dangerous Game’
President Trump has frequently said that the four indictments against him are politically motivated “witch hunts,” “election interference,” and done at the behest of the Biden White House.In recent media remarks, he has come to dub them “Biden trials.”
President Trump said that his political opponents “desperately” want to see him in prison. “He is playing a very dangerous game, and the great people of America WILL NOT STAND FOR IT.”
President Biden has stated that he has no part in these cases, two run by special counsel Jack Smith on the federal level, and two others at the county level.
President Trump made a long list of things President Biden could later be prosecuted for if presidents are found to not be immune from criminal prosecution, including allegedly profiting personally from foreign entities through use of his office, which sparked an impeachment inquiry by House Republicans.
He also listed the exit from Afghanistan, which was widely criticized as it had resulted in several American deaths, the southern border crisis that has become a central campaign issue for both sides, and “the Decimation of American Wealth through the Green New Scam, and so much more.”
Experts have predicted that the Supreme Court will issue a decision in June, leaving just enough time for the case to go to trial before the presidential elections in November. The Supreme Court earlier this year heard an appeal of a ballot disqualification case that might have taken President Trump off the ballot in several states, issuing a quick decision within a month.
