What do you call a system in which the chief executive is not bound by law?
Donald Trump’s lawyers have been arguing since last month that presidents of the United States cannot be charged with any crimes for abusing their powers. Lawyers make whatever arguments they have to, and those legal arguments don’t always reflect deeply rooted beliefs by their client. But now Trump is forcefully making the case in public for total presidential immunity.
Here is Trump’s argument, which is best appreciated in its full all-caps original format:
A PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES MUST HAVE FULL IMMUNITY, WITHOUT WHICH IT WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE FOR HIM/HER TO PROPERLY FUNCTION. ANY MISTAKE, EVEN IF WELL INTENDED, WOULD BE MET WITH ALMOST CERTAIN INDICTMENT BY THE OPPOSING PARTY AT TERM END. EVEN EVENTS THAT “CROSS THE LINE” MUST FALL UNDER TOTAL IMMUNITY, OR IT WILL BE YEARS OF TRAUMA TRYING TO DETERMINE GOOD FROM BAD. THERE MUST BE CERTAINTY. EXAMPLE: YOU CAN’T STOP POLICE FROM DOING THE JOB OF STRONG & EFFECTIVE CRIME PREVENTION BECAUSE YOU WANT TO GUARD AGAINST THE OCCASIONAL “ROGUE COP” OR “BAD APPLE.” SOMETIMES YOU JUST HAVE TO LIVE WITH “GREAT BUT SLIGHTLY IMPERFECT.” ALL PRESIDENTS MUST HAVE COMPLETE & TOTAL PRESIDENTIAL IMMUNITY, OR THE AUTHORITY & DECISIVENESS OF A PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES WILL BE STRIPPED & GONE FOREVER. HOPEFULLY THIS WILL BE AN EASY DECISION. GOD BLESS THE SUPREME COURT!
Trump’s legal and political arguments have a contradiction. He is asking the courts to establish a ruling that presidents cannot be criminally charged for their official duties, a request that implies that such protections do not exist. At the same time, he insists that the lack of such protection would make it impossible for any president to govern effectively.
Yet every previous president has managed to conduct his job without ever having been assured he is free from prosecution. This only became a problem when we elected a career criminal as president.
Trump of course previously asserted that he should not be impeached because the legal system was the proper venue for holding him accountable for any crimes. “We have a judicial process in this country. We have an investigative process in this country to which no former officeholder is immune. That is the process that should be running its course. That is the process the bill of attainder tells us is the appropriate one for investigation, prosecution, and punishment,” Trump attorney David Schoen said during Trump’s second impeachment trial.
The Trump argument is that as an elected president he should be permitted to commit any crimes whatsoever, and there should be no legal consequences. What do you call a system in which the chief executive is not bound by law?
