Office Hours: Will the Supreme Court drag its robes?
When it comes to Trump’s criminal trial for seeking to overturn the 2020 election, timing is everything.
Friends,
It’s unlikely that the District of Columbia Court of Appeals will decide that Trump is immune from criminal charges because he was president when his alleged criminality occurred. As the three Court of Appeals judges suggested at yesterday’s hearing, presidents don’t have carte blanche to commit crimes even if they call it official business.
The practical question concerns Trump’s appeal of the D.C. appeals court decision — either to the full court of appeals (all eleven active judges) and then, if they rule against him, to the Supreme Court, or directly to the Supreme Court.
I doubt the full D.C. appeals court would accept the case. My real worry is the Supreme Court — not because I fear the Court will give Trump immunity (even packed as it is with Republican appointees, it’s hard to conceive that the justices would allow presidents to break the law) — but because of the amount of time it may take the high court to decide.
If the court drags its robes, it could delay until after the 2024 election a potential conviction in Trump’s trial for seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
That trial had been set to begin on March 4, but the starting date is on hold until the immunity case is decided.
Timing is everything. A Trump conviction before Election Day could be a major factor in the 2024 race.
If he is found guilty of a crime, nearly a quarter of Trump’s supporters believe he should not be the Republican nominee for president.
A conviction could also affect the general election if it’s a close race and even a small number of voters won’t vote for a felon.
And if Trump is criminally convicted of seeking to overturn the 2020 election, the Supreme Court might be forced to rule that Trump cannot take office under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution.
But if there’s no conviction before Election Day, and Trump wins the 2024 presidential election, he’ll likely put an end to the two federal cases.
As president, his Justice Department will also argue in the Supreme Court that the Constitution prevents state prosecutors from pursuing charges against a sitting president — a plausible argument.
So today’s Office Hours question: Will the Supreme Court drag its robes and delay Trump’s potential conviction until after the 2024 election?
What has been missed is that a rogue president could avoid impeachment by simply putting the whole of Congress in prison. No need for the Navy Seal Team. Just have it done by the Justice Department. Put enough of Congress in Gitmo to avoid there ever being impeachment. It seems that Lawrence Tribe of Harvard has come to the same conclusion.
Let's be honest, what John Sauer was requesting was the equivalent of the 1933 Enabling Law in Germany. In the world he suggests, the president is not only above the law, he IS the law.
Let's hope that the courts finally start to understand the depths of what is in the minds of these people.
I forget who coined the phrase: Justice delayed is justice denied.
Never could that be more appropriate than to the case of Donald J. Trump.