Trump’s Game with the Court

The Supreme Court should hear the the case of whether Trump was only complying with his oath of office when he tried to steal Biden’s victory. It is legally absurd — but it could pay off.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit cannot definitively determine the extent to which a U.S. president is immune from prosecution, an issue it heard last Tuesday. The case of presidential immunity in a motion brought by former President Donald Trump belongs before the Supreme Court because its decision will shape politics in the United States far beyond this year’s presidential election and could possibly bear on whether Trump serves a second term.

The Republican candidate insists he acted in his official presidential capacity when, without regard to the facts about election results, he tried to disenfranchise more than 80 million American voters and steal Joe Biden’s victory. If the predominantly conservative Supreme Court uses this of all cases to hold that the Constitution provides immunity from prosecution beyond the term of office, every future president will have a “get out of jail free” pass after leaving office.

A Threat to Biden

The judge in the trial court that initially heard the motion ridiculed this scenario. Most judges consider Trump’s claim for immunity farfetched. He has more plausible arguments in other cases before the Supreme Court.

The former president is clearly counting on the justices to make a political decision. There is no other way to understand the threat he poses except that, if the court holds that Trump is immune from prosecution, Biden will also have to pack up when his term ends next year.

The Supreme Court rejected a petition by Special Counsel Jack Smith to consider the issue immediately. Trump presumably interpreted that decision as an invitation to political gamesmanship. If the D.C. Circuit takes an extended time to decide on immunity, trial on charges related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol and election interference are not likely to begin until late in this election year.

Trump then would just have to defeat Biden and could end the scare of conviction with the stroke of a pen.