U.S. Supreme Court justices divided over immunity case

Heavy with references to theoretical assassination attempts and bribery, much of this historic proceeding revolved around the debate over what constitutes official presidential conduct, with questions like how about if a president orders the military to stage a coup. Of the 9 justices hearing the case, three were nominated by Donald Trump during his presidency. Conservative Justice Samuel Alito brought up the old saw about indicting a ham sandwich, referring to the belief indictments are easy to secure and don’t mean a likelihood of guilt. Alito adding this case will have effects that go far beyond this particular prosecution. The seriousness of these cases couldn’t be higher. They raised the most fundamental question in all of American history, which is Is the president above the law? And under what circumstances? Trump’s lawyer face questions like If there’s no threat of criminal prosecution, what prevents the president from just doing whatever he wants? Contrary to prosecutors, Trump’s lawyer argued, a former president has to be impeached and convicted before he can be criminally prosecuted. The court seems likely to reject immunity in all circumstances, but possibly recognize some immunity for core executive functions. Justice Sonia Sotomayor made clear her opposition to the Trump legal team’s position, saying she was having a hard time envisioning immunity for a president who creates and submits false documents, orders the assassination of a political rival and any number of other criminal acts. As protesters like Lori Woodward Garcia gathered outside the court, a key question remains when will a decision be made? This Supreme Court decision could throw our country in the world, quite frankly, into tyranny. A ruling could require several months of lower court proceedings. While skepticism towards Trump’s claims of absolute immunity was clear in court, the timing of the Supreme Court’s decision is still unclear. Regardless of what the court decides, if Trump is re-elected in November, he may try to pardon himself. Donna All right, Nitu Garcia in Washington. Thanks.