Just for openers:
"During the 234 years from 1789 to 2023, no current or former President had ever been criminally prosecuted for official acts. "
Issues Before the Court:
Whether the President has immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts, i.e., those that fall within the “outer perimeter” of his official responsibilities:
Whether the Impeachment Judgment Clause, U.S. CONST. art. I, § 3, cl. 7, and principles of Double Jeopardy prevent the prosecution of a President who has been impeached and acquitted by the Senate for the same or closely related conduct.
Now ask yourselves:
Do the the official acts of the president consist of “inciting an insurrection and coordinating a plot to overturn the results of a free and fair election” or as stated further in the bief, “would be considered a “quintessential Presidential act.”
Trump’s lawyers invoke the 1982 Supreme Court ruling Nixon v. Fitzgerald to make their “outer perimeter argument, an argument already shot down by federal Judge Tanya Chutkan.
Former prosecutors tell MeidasTouch that the argument has no legs in criminal cases. Just because one is president, does not mean he or she can go ahead and freely commit crimes. As Judge Chutkan put it in her decision, “Whatever immunities a sitting President may enjoy, the United States has only one Chief Executive at a time, and that position does not confer a lifelong ‘get-out-of-jail-free’ pass.”
Steve Vladeck, the Charles Alan Wright Chair in Federal Courts at the University of Texas School of Law, wrote extensively back in August about why the Fitzgerald “outer perimeter” argument has no merit. You can read Vladeck’s analysis here.
In addition, Trump’s filing invokes the Impeachment Judgment Clause of the U.S. Constitution, claiming that a President may face criminal charges only if convicted in an impeachment trial. As Trump was acquitted by the Senate after his impeachment, his legal team contends that he retains immunity for the alleged official acts.
This argument is also an embarrassing one to make, and was refuted by Republican leaders during the impeachment proceedings themselves. Of course, the United States Congress is a political branch, and not the judiciary.
Read Filing Below:
