Bryn Mawr wrote: ↑Fri Dec 15, 2023 3:42 am
What legal grounds are they using to argue for a suspension of the trial?
Not sure of the legal grounds, but the argument seems to be that the trial would be right in the middle of the Campaign cycle offering the most egregious example of "Election Interference" in history.
The Prosecutor "brushed off that idea, pointing out that prosecutors all over the country are always investigating people for various crimes and that they do not stop doing so just because someone runs for office."
“If the prosecutor finds that they violated the law, they have an ethical duty to bring forth charges and so this is a silly notion to me that because one runs from office that your criminal case would stop,” she said.
Totally agree, the court case started first, if he didn't want it to interfere with the election then don't stand
LarsMac wrote: ↑Thu Dec 21, 2023 4:19 pm
Well, I'm rather proud of my current Home State this week. Colorado Supreme Court rules Trump is disqualified from presidency for Jan. 6 riot
The paragraph in question:
Section 3
No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.
So, this paragraph does not specifically include the Offices of President and Vice President as being included. A thin - VERY Thin - line in the sand. But, Mr T has attempted to latch onto that line.
Also, of course the constitution forbids legal prosecution of a sitting President. Trump claims that he is immune to prosecution because during the time in question, he was, of course the sitting President.
That, however only forbids prosecution while the president is in office, and the Articles of Impeachment would address that issue, were he still the sitting President. Once he was relieved from office by the inauguration of now President Biden, that no longer applies.
There are all manner pro-Trumpers who try to latch on to all of that. I've have learned to keep my mouth shut in public to avoid confrontations with these people in hopes of going on breathing for a while longer. They are not deep thinkers, and most of them are armed. [sigh]
The home of the soul is the Open Road.
- DH Lawrence
LarsMac wrote: ↑Sat Dec 23, 2023 3:52 pm
The paragraph in question:
Section 3
No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.
So, this paragraph does not specifically include the Offices of President and Vice President as being included. A thin - VERY Thin - line in the sand. But, Mr T has attempted to latch onto that line.
Also, of course the constitution forbids legal prosecution of a sitting President. Trump claims that he is immune to prosecution because during the time in question, he was, of course the sitting President.
That, however only forbids prosecution while the president is in office, and the Articles of Impeachment would address that issue, were he still the sitting President. Once he was relieved from office by the inauguration of now President Biden, that no longer applies.
There are all manner pro-Trumpers who try to latch on to all of that. I've have learned to keep my mouth shut in public to avoid confrontations with these people in hopes of going on breathing for a while longer. They are not deep thinkers, and most of them are armed. [sigh]
The question then becomes "has he taken an oath to support the Constitution of the United States" which he obviously has - as he has, just as obviously, held an office, civil or military, under the United States.
Yessir. He plans to force the courts to spell it out to the minutest of detail.
The Latest from his legal team:
From NDC News, via Microdoft
rom Former President Donald Trump on Saturday demanded that the DC Circuit Court of Appeals toss the federal election interference case against him, arguing again that presidential immunity protects him from prosecution.
“The structure of our government, the text of the Constitution and its early commentators, common-law immunity doctrines, our political history, the Supreme Court’s analogous immunity doctrines, and the policy considerations rooted in the separation of powers all dictate that no President, current or former, may be criminally prosecuted for his official acts unless he is first impeached and convicted by the Senate," Trump lawyers wrote in a brief to the DC Circuit Court of Appeals.
Continue reading
"Nor may a President face criminal prosecution based on conduct for which he was acquitted by the U.S. Senate," he added. "The indictment against President Trump is unlawful and unconstitutional. It must be dismissed.”The Supreme Court on Friday sidestepped special counsel Jack Smith's request asking the justices to quickly decide whether Trump has broad immunity for his attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss amid his presidential term.
SIGH
More:...
Because the Supreme Court decided against intervening in the case, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit will hear oral arguments on Jan. 9.
After that court rules, the Supreme Court could swiftly decide whether to take up the case.
In his request to the Supreme Court, Smith said the case “presents a fundamental question at the heart of our democracy: whether a former President is absolutely immune from federal prosecution for crimes committed while in office” in a court filing this month.
Trump’s lawyers pushed back in court papers, arguing that Smith had given “no compelling reason” why the Supreme Court should immediately step in ahead of the appeals court.
Reacting to the Supreme Court’s move on Friday, Trump slammed Smith’s initial request for the court to step in, decrying it as a “desperate attempt to short circuit our Great Constitution” in a post to his Truth Social platform.
In his post, Trump also said that he was “looking forward” to arguments before the appeals court next month while reiterating baseless claims about the 2020 presidential election.
Earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is presiding over the election interference case, denied Trump’s motion to dismiss his indictment on presidential immunity and constitutional grounds. The case is on hold while Trump appeals the decision.
Trump’s lawyers argue that his role in questioning the result of the election was within the “outer perimeter” of his official responsibilities as president, citing a 1982 Supreme Court ruling about presidential immunity. Therefore, under Supreme Court precedent, Trump is immune from prosecution, his lawyers argue.
Trump’s lawyers also point to the Senate’s acquittal of Trump following impeachment proceedings over his role in events that led to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, arguing that the former president can’t face separate prosecution for the same actions.
Smith has argued that Trump’s attempts to overturn the election were unrelated to his official duties as president and that the Constitution’s language on impeachment permits separate criminal proceedings even if the president is acquitted.
A federal grand jury in Washington indicted Trump on four charges in August: conspiracy to defraud the U.S., conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction, and conspiracy against the right to vote and to have one’s vote counted. Trump pleaded not guilty at his arraignment hearing.
Trump faces three other criminal prosecutions but remains the frontrunner in the polls for the Republican nomination.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
The home of the soul is the Open Road.
- DH Lawrence
