Federal appeals court rule unanimously that former president can be prosecuted for charges related to attempting to overturn the 2020 election
In their decision, the federal appeals court judges Florence Pan, Karen Henderson and Michelle Childs were sharply critical of Donald Trump’s arguments, saying that he essentially wanted to make presidents immune from accountability:
We cannot accept former President Trump’s claim that a President has unbounded authority to commit crimes that would neutralize the most fundamental check on executive power – the recognition and implementation of election results. Nor can we sanction his apparent contention that the Executive has carte blanche to violate the rights of individual citizens to vote and to have their votes count.
At bottom, former President Trump’s stance would collapse our system of separated powers by placing the President beyond the reach of all three Branches. Presidential immunity against federal indictment would mean that, as to the President, the Congress could not legislate, the Executive could not prosecute and the Judiciary could not review. We cannot accept that the office of the Presidency places its former occupants above the law for all time thereafter.
Continue reading…Federal appeals court rule unanimously that former president can be prosecuted for charges related to attempting to overturn the 2020 election In their decision, the federal appeals court judges Florence Pan, Karen Henderson and Michelle Childs were sharply critical of Donald Trump’s arguments, saying that he essentially wanted to make presidents immune from accountability:We cannot accept former President Trump’s claim that a President has unbounded authority to commit crimes that would neutralize the most fundamental check on executive power – the recognition and implementation of election results. Nor can we sanction his apparent contention that the Executive has carte blanche to violate the rights of individual citizens to vote and to have their votes count.At bottom, former President Trump’s stance would collapse our system of separated powers by placing the President beyond the reach of all three Branches. Presidential immunity against federal indictment would mean that, as to the President, the Congress could not legislate, the Executive could not prosecute and the Judiciary could not review. We cannot accept that the office of the Presidency places its former occupants above the law for all time thereafter. Continue reading…