WASHINGTON (AP) — On the left and right, Supreme Court justices seem to agree on a basic truth about the American system of government: No one is above the law, not even the president.
“The law applies equally to all persons, including a person who happens for a period of time to occupy the Presidency,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote in 2020.
Less than a year earlier, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, then a federal trial judge, wrote, “Stated simply, the primary takeaway from the past 250 years of recorded American history is that Presidents are not kings.”
But former President Donald Trump and his legal team are putting that foundational belief to the test on Thursday when the high court takes up Trump’s bid to avoid prosecution over his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to President Joe Biden.
Trump’s lawyers argue that former presidents are entitled to absolute immunity for their official acts. Otherwise, they say, politically motivated prosecutions of former occupants of the Oval Office would become routine and presidents couldn’t function as the commander-in-chief if they had to worry about criminal charges.
Grant Shapps swerves questions on whether Britain could follow the US by banning Chinese
William Nylander misses second straight game for Maple Leafs
Does this video show a military convoy in Myanmar’s Rakhine state? — Radio Free Asia
DAILY MAIL COMMENT: Labour runs out of ammo on defence
Matt Ryan calls it a career. The quarterback officially announces his retirement
Trevor Bauer ties a Mexican League record with 9 consecutive strikeouts
New Orleans man pleads guilty in 2016 shooting death of Jefferson Parish deputy
Trevor Bauer ties a Mexican League record with 9 consecutive strikeouts
Pakistan and Iran vow to enhance efforts at a 'united front' against Afghanistan
Minnesota state senator arrested on suspicion of burglary