Editorial: No immunity for Trump. Former presidents don’t have a ‘get-out-of-jail-free’ card
LA TimesAfter the Senate acquitted Donald Trump at his second impeachment trial, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell suggested that Trump might still be held accountable for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election that culminated in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Special counsel Jack Smith has asked the justices to fast-track a ruling on Trump’s appeal of a federal district judge’s ejection of the former president’s immunity claim, bypassing review by a federal appeals court. In asking the Supreme Court to expedite consideration of Trump’s claim to immunity, Smith wrote: “Vindicating that public interest in this case requires immediate resolution of the immunity question to permit the trial to occur on an appropriate timetable.” Smith has been faulted for not explaining more fully why time is of the essence. As Chutkan noted in her ruling: “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.” Chutkan similarly demolished two other arguments: that the indictment “criminalized” Trump’s speech in violation of the 1st Amendment and that he couldn’t be prosecuted because he was acquitted at his second impeachment trial. On the contrary, Chutkan held, the Constitution’s language on impeachment “does not provide that acquittal by the Senate during impeachment proceedings shields a President from criminal prosecution after he leaves office.” The separate argument that Jan. 6 defendants — and Trump — cannot be prosecuted for corruptly obstructing an official proceeding is also unpersuasive.