By. Donald V. Watkins
Copyrighted and Published on February 6, 2024
Today, a federal court of appeals in Washington confirmed for the public what most competent lawyers knew all along – there is no such thing in U.S. law as presidential immunity for criminal acts.
None of the 46 U.S. president has ever enjoyed such immunity.
Presidential immunity for criminal acts is not authorized in the U.S. Constitution. It is not authorized in any federal statute. It is not authorized in the Code of Federal Regulations.
Such an immunity claim is merely a figment of Donald Trump’s imagination. This was a “bullshit” legal argument when it was first asserted by Trump’s lawyers.
We are NOT running a monarchy in America. There is no King, Queen, or Emperor, who is above in law.
No man, woman, or child in the U.S. is above the law. This is a bedrock principle of American law. This is the one feature of American democracy that separates the U.S. from every other nation on the planet.
Trump had an opportunity to pardon himself for any and all crimes he may have committed as president before he left office in January 2021, but he failed to exercise this presidential power for his own benefit.
You can read the appeals court ruling in U.S. v. Trump here.