Donald Trump’s lawyer pushed an outrageous line of thinking on Thursday during oral arguments at the Supreme Court over whether the former president has immunity for trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election: that a U.S. president could order a military coup d’état with almost no chance of repercussions.
Justice Elena Kagan asked lawyer John Sauer about a hypothetical president who “ordered the military to stage a coup.”
“He’s no longer president. He wasn’t impeached, he couldn’t be impeached, but he ordered the military to stage a coup, and you’re saying that’s an official act?” she asked.
“I think it would depend on the circumstances whether it was an official act,” Sauer replied. “If it’s an official act, there needs to be impeachment and conviction before [criminal charges could be pursued].”
In response to other questions from the justices, Sauer defended a hypothetical political assassination ordered by an American president, the argument that sank Trump’s case in the D.C. circuit.
Jesus. I don’t know how many times I have to say this but impeachment is a political process, not a criminal one.
Just because you weren’t impeached doesn’t mean you can’t be charged with a crime.
I swear if Trump has been impeached, they’d be saying that he can’t be criminally charged because then it’d be double jeopardy.
I think they did at the time.