The American legal system: it’s a bizarre thing, and it just keeps on getting weirder. We’ve always known that our constitution, that deeply flawed document, is full of weird loopholes and blind spots, but when it comes to the ongoing legal case against Trump to determine the question of presidential immunity, things are getting truly wild.
For instance: why is Trump’s lawyer John Sauer constantly talking about how easy (and legal!) it would be for Biden to kill Trump? Honestly, I’m not sure—as legal strategies go, it’s a bit opaque.
This isn’t the first time Sauer has brought this up: back in January, the lawyer argued that there’s no precedent for a US President assassinating a political rival, which made our collective heads spin.
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RelatedHe’s hotboxing the court.
Now, for some reason, this point is resurfacing in the continuing trial to determine what fault Trump has in the January 6th insurrection, among other scandals. After Justice Sotomayor questioned Sauer’s claims about presidential immunity, the Trump lawyer fired back by claiming that the approved assassination of a political rival could be seen as an official act…technically.
Basically, he’s really testing the boundaries of the law here. Sauer is taking full advantage of the fact that some things are perhaps just too obvious to be put into law…like the idea that the President of the United States probably shouldn’t be killing people willy nilly. Sure, there might technically be nothing on the books regarding the right of the President to go on a killing spree—but those who hold the presidential office are also subject to the laws by which every other American lives, even if Trump’s team might find that an inconvenient truth. We live in a (sort of) democracy, not a military dictatorship.
The other obvious point, of course, is that if this kind of broad immunity covered Trump while in office, it certainly covers Biden. Taking out your political opponent just because you feel like it? Two can play that game.
The phrase “hoist by his own petard” might be in order shortly.
We’ll be watching closely to see how this sh*t show trial progresses.