As we are forced to continue to ponder arguments in favor of substantial immunity from criminal prosecution for the US president, allow me to hearken back to the days of yesteryear wherein the leader of the Republicans in the US Senate said the following:
…impeachment was never meant to be the final forum for American justice.
Impeachment, conviction, and removal are a specific intra-governmental safety valve. It is not the criminal justice system, where individual accountability is the paramount goal.
Indeed, Justice Story specifically reminded that while former officials were not eligible for impeachment or conviction, they were – and this is extremely important – “still liable to be tried and punished in the ordinary tribunals of justice.”
Put anther way, in the language of today: President Trump is still liable for everything he did while he was in office, as an ordinary citizen, unless the statute of limitations has run, still liable for everything he did while in office, didn’t get away with anything yet – yet.
We have a criminal justice system in this country. We have civil litigation. And former presidents are not immune from being held accountable by either one.
Just a reminder that McConnell argued to the American people that removal from office and barring Trump from future office via the impeachment process was inappropriate because, among other arguments, the proper remedy was via the courts.
And note the bolded words above.
Note, too, that the argument made by Trump’s lawyers before the Supreme Court is that the only way to criminally prosecute a president is if he or she is first impeached and convicted in the Senate.
If we could harness the power of these contradictions, we could likely power a modest-sized city.
