@cspanofficial: Judge Florence Pan of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit on Tuesday pressed D. John Sauer, an attorney for former President Trump, about his argument that a president is immune from criminal liability for acts during their tenure in the White House unless they had first been found guilty in an impeachment proceeding. Responding to a series of hypothetical questions, Mr. Sauer argued that absent a Senate conviction in an impeachment trial, a president could not face criminal prosecution even if they ordered an assassination of a political rival or sold pardons or military secrets to a foreign government. James Pearce, an attorney representing Special Counsel Jack Smith, called it “extraordinarily frightening” that a president could be given such immunity. “I mean, what kind of world are we living in?” Mr. Pearce said. “If, as I understood my friend on the other side to say here, a president orders a SEAL team to assassinate a political rival and resigned, for example, before an impeachment, it’s not a criminal act. I think that is an extraordinarily frightening future.” The three-judge panel, composed of two Democratic appointees and one Republican appointee, is hearing the appeal after a U.S. district court ruled against the former president’s claims of immunity. The case is expected to eventually reach the U.S. Supreme Court. Its decision and timing will determine when, or even if, the former president will stand trial in the federal election interference case taking place in federal district court in Washington, DC. #potus #donaldtrump #trump #immunity #jan6 #january6th #cspan

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Tuesday 09 January 2024 19:48:08 GMT