“'I am in shock that a lawyer stood in the U.S. Supreme Court and said that a president could assassinate his political opponent and it would be immune as ‘an official act,' lawyer Marc Elias, whose firm defends democratic election laws, wrote today on social media. He added: 'I am in despair that several Justices seemed to think this answer made perfect sense.'”
"The argument was oddly devoid of mention of the former president by name. Usually, an oral argument focuses on a defendant and his conduct. Not so here. This was all about future presidents and how they would execute their constitutional duties. The six conservative Justices left Donald Trump on the periphery for the most part…"
"Every time Dreeben brought up one of the charges against Trump, the conservatives on the court didn’t want to hear it, or they sought to defenestrate the laws by implying that they were weak, that they didn’t apply to the circumstances surrounding January 6."
"Based on oral argument in the presidential immunity case, the Court’s conservative justices seem prepared to effectively reward Trump for January 6th. …
[L]arge swaths of presidential action that were unimaginable before Trump could become not just real but protected."
"The reactionary majority gave Trump a victory by dignifying ludicrous arguments that should have been rebuked and condemned the moment Trump's counsel gave them voice. In failing to reject those arguments out of hand, the reactionary majority bestowed upon them the veneer of legitimacy and respectability they do not deserve."
"Yesterday’s oral argument before the Supreme Court about Trump’s claim of immunity from prosecution for inciting an insurrection was a farce and a ruse. …
The case before the justices is whether inciting an insurrection is a prosecutable offense. Of course it is. By blowing it up into something else, the Republican justices are blowing up Trump’s trial — which is exactly their intention."
“Today’s GOP controlled Supreme Court is nothing more than an arm of the Republican Party focused on imposing their right-wing agenda upon us--from ending fundamental rights like abortion and marriage equality to undermining voting rights and more.”
“They’re expanding the president’s power in response to January 6th, the horrors of that day. That is producing, not constraints on a president’s power, but enhancement of a president’s power to do things without any accountability.”
“I don’t say that lightly or for effect, and I don’t want to make my personal feelings the point here. But when I woke up this morning and saw the news coverage writ large, it didn’t reflect what happened yesterday. We slid over the edge of a cliff, and we won’t stop now until we hit bottom.”
“On Thursday, during oral arguments in Trump v. United States, the Republican-appointed justices shattered [the illusions that the Supremes would protect democracy]. This was the case we had been waiting for, and all was made clear—brutally so.”
“These justices donned the attitude of cynical partisans, repeatedly lending legitimacy to the former president’s outrageous claims of immunity from criminal prosecution. To at least five of the conservatives, the real threat to democracy wasn’t Trump’s attempt to overturn the election—but the Justice Department’s efforts to prosecute him for the act.”
“The conservative judges, or at least most of them, on the highest court in the land are very clearly choosing Trump over our institutions. And none more belligerently than Samuel Alito. … The conservative jurists chose Trump. It will stand as one of the blackest days in Supreme Court history.”
As Jonathan V. Last says, Trump is the great revealer. For years, conservatives claimed they were all about the Constitution as written, the rule of law, the judiciary not legislating.
Turns out – with the Supreme Court leading the way – that this was all a big lie. The Supremes are a charade, and corrupt to the hilt, the right-wing bloc controlling the court. (Those are my words, not Last's.)
"The Roberts Court is a corrupt institution which operates in concert with and on behalf of the Republican Party and to an ambiguous degree right-wing anti-regulatory ideology. If we believe in a different set of policies or even democratic self-governance we will have to succeed at that with the Supreme Court acting as a consistent adversary."
Of course Trump's PIMP #Justices are going to give him #immunity. That's what the Koch network put them there to do.
And as ever, the TV lawyers who told us for months this hearing should not even be happening now will pivot and change their "opinions".
Corrupt #Koch Kourt should be closed and boarded up: DICTATORS ARE ABOVE THE LAW. Therefore the #Constitution is irrelevant and they have no reason to exist anymore.
[NYTimes]: Justice Jackson presses Trump’s lawyer about why presidents, uniquely among the numerous government officials who make life and death consequential decisions, can’t be constrained by the risk of prosecution if they commit a crime. She fears that future leaders would be "emboldened." By Charlie Savage
By looking to future, #SCOTUS may push #Trump’s DC trial past election
With the #immunity claims before the #SupremeCourt on Thurs, the #judicial branch is being asked to draw a clear line about what a president can or cannot do.
The high court, w/3 Trump nominees, has generally not been receptive to Trump’s assertions of immunity, forcing him to comply w/a #subpoena & rejecting his efforts to block #Congress from accessing his tax records.
But close observers of the court said several of the justices also will not want to inappropriately rein in future chief execs from doing what the job requires.
At least 4, Chief Justice #JohnRoberts & Justices #Alito, #Kagan, #Kavanaugh — all of whom previously worked as lawyers in the WH or the #DOJ, are likely to be especially sensitive to the implications of their decision for future presidents.
Joyce Vance sums up Trump's argument for immunity:
"A former president can try to steal an election. He can do anything; kill off his political rivals. That's the world Trump is advocating for—I'm a criminal and you're stuck with me. It is the most forthright statement of authoritarianism imaginable."
Alright, who’s ready to see #Trump get his just deserts? He fucked up the whole damn world & that’s not an overstatement.
PS #BabySquirrel & I had a lovely weekend. It’s as boy! (He’s developed discernible - stuff)
He is doing quite well! Name: “Ramone” because he’s a sweet little punk rocker.
#Merchan has explained the concept of #ReasonableDoubt, instructed the jurors that statements made by the various attorneys are not to be accepted as fact, & #jurors are listening intently, a reminder that jurors take many cues from judges - as the impartial arbiter & why #Trump's attacks on judges are stupid.
Besides this case, today there's a hearing to determine the sufficiency of Trump’s #civil#fraud#bond for the $454M penalty, & Thurs, #SCOTUS hears arguments on his bs #immunity defense.
NY #Justice Juan #Merchan on Wednesday denied Trump's bid to #delay his April 15 trial on charges stemming from hush money paid to a porn star until #SCOTUS reviews his claim to presidential #immunity in a separate criminal case.
The ruling Wednesday by Judge Juan #Merchan clears the way for the first of 4 pending #criminal prosecutions against #Trump to go before a #jury, even though #SCOTUS has yet to rule on his [BS] #immunity claim in a separate federal case in Washington over #Jan6, #FakeElectors & other acts of #ElectionInterference. Jury selection in Manhattan starts April 15.
The classified documents case will make use of a recording which indicates that #Trump had a highly sensitive document which he knew was NOT declassified.
The chain of evidence looks strong and while there is much news media spinning, a court of law is more rigorous environment where focus on fact is primary
I was disturbed by the willingness of #SCOTUS's conservative wing to trip over themselves worrying about the conduct of future Presidents rather than the criminal behavior of #Trump while in office.