One of the hopes that Donald Trump has to win his Mar-a-Lago case is that he has immunity from prosecution.
In fact, he has already called on the Supreme Court to intercede on his behalf.
This is not the first time that Trump has relied on the immunity claim, but so far, it has done him little good.
Immunity or Not?
Trump attorney John Lauro stated, “Everything that President Trump did was while he was in office as president.
“He is now immune from prosecution for acts that he takes in connection with those policy decisions,” reported Politico.
On August 4, Trump posted to Truth Social, “CRAZY! My political opponent has hit me with a barrage of weak lawsuits, including D.A., A.G., and others, which require massive amounts of my time & money to adjudicate.
“Resources that would have gone into Ads and Rallies, will now have to be spent fighting these Radical Left Thugs in numerous courts throughout the Country. I am leading in all Polls, including against Crooked Joe, but this is not a level playing field. It is Election Interference, & the Supreme Court must intercede. MAGA!
So, let me start with Trump’s attorney… he is wrong.
While some of the charges against Trump could possibly go back to Trump being president, the majority of the charges, including his alleged Espionage Act violations and obstruction charges, happened when Trump was living at Mar-a-Lago and no longer president.
So, I just don’t see how that will work out, especially since Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts has already hinted that immunity went away the moment Trump left the White House.
Next, Trump claims he is spending “massive amounts of my time & money” to fight this case.
Trump has been using campaign funds, not his personal money, to pay his legal bills to the tune of more than $40 million, which is why his war chest is all but empty at this point.
As far as legal precedents go, we can go back to the Nixon days, where the Supreme Court rejected Nixon’s argument that he had “an absolute, unqualified presidential privilege of immunity from judicial process under all circumstances.”
The court left wiggle room in terms of forming policy, but it said nothing about outside allegations, which is where Trump would fall here.
Let’s move forward to Trump’s 2020 case in Clinton v. Jones, where the Supreme Court unanimously agreed that even a sitting president does not have “categorical immunity” from criminal subpoenas.
The overall case went 7-2, in favor of no immunity applying in that particular case.
My point is that the precedent has already been set, so Trump’s claim of immunity in that case, if and when it does go to the Supreme Court, is likely a loser.
Trump’s only hope in this case, and make no mistake about it, this the most serious of all cases in terms of disqualifying Trump for the election, is to win this case in court.
If he is found guilty, per the 14th Amendment, he will be disqualified from holding offer ever again in this country.
