If he really going to run for Supreme Court that theyre going to hear your case. Reelection . In two years . He doesnt have another they have the Supreme Court internal senate race to deal with. But we will see. Identified for the lawyers on both sides the question, and the only question, they want to hear addressed. And i want to give that question to the audience now. I wouldnt put any money on the question is whether, and if Mitch Mcconnells decency and so to what extent, does a integrity. Do you have any optimism, former president enjoy president ial immunity from im not asking who, but in terms of the leadership that criminal prosecution for comes next . Of course not. Conduct alleged to involve what i would say this. Official acts during his tenure i would say the only optimism, the only sign of optimism is in office . How would you address that that i think its likely that whoever comes next will be less question . Well, if im jack smith, the competent. Because Mitch Mcconnell is very prosecutor here, i would say good at obstruction in the same way we saw with Kevin Mccarthy. Absolutely not, or maybe heck Kevin Mccarthy maybe wasnt graded his job, he was better no. And just point to the proud at his job than mike johnson. Tradition of our constitution, which is at its essence, and that redounded to the republicans benefit. Lawrence, there is one central as house went from Kevin Mccarthy to make johnson, so idea, which is no person is the senate goes for mitch Above The Law. Mcconnell to someone named and what donald trump has done john. Someone named john. Michelle goldberg, thank you throughout his presidency, for helping me ride the chariot before and after, is always into darkness tonight. I appreciate your time, my basically his arguments amount friend. Thats our show for tonight. Now its time for the last world with don lawrence to, im Above The Law. Odonnell. Good evening on this big so when he was president and there was the mueller report, newsnight. Good evening, alex. Which outlined ten crimes that and of course we have our Supreme Court experts with us, he had committed, he said you neal katyal and Laurence Tribe. Cant indict me because im a theyve got a lot to say. Sitting president. He then gets voted out of and im gonna get straight to it. Do it. Office, and then he commits thank you, alex. Crimes on january 6th to try to thank you. Lost in the fog of todays stay in office, and he says you Supreme Court news is the hard fact that donald trump is still cant prosecute me because im still a sitting president. Scheduled to go to trial In Manhattan On March 25th to Face Criminal Charges in his first Criminal Trial, charges that he tried to effect the results of the 2016 president ial election by making Hush Money Payments so then, Congress Goes and tries to impeach him for this. To porn star Stormy Daniels, and his lawyers go to the who will likely become one of senate and say, oh no, you cant impeach him, you can only prosecute him after he leaves the star witnesses against donald trump in that trial, a office. So then, jack smith does exactly that. Witness who even Donald Trumps they prosecute him after he followers will have no problem leaves office. And he says, oh no, you cant prosecute me, because i was impeached before and i wasnt convicted, so now i can be understanding when she describes donald trump did with her alone in a hotel room while prosecuted. Its all just a big shell game. His wife was pregnant and when she describes how donald trump it always adds up to the same delivered his hush money thing, donald trump evades the payments to her. Law. And unfortunately today, lawrence, the Supreme Court put its thumb on the side of saying donald trump, we are going to help you evade the law. And nothing that the Supreme Court did today is helping donald trump get out of the crushing weight of half a theres lots of caveats we can billion dollars of civil talk about there in a moment, judgments he is now facing in but that is, i think, the new york. Today, donald trump said he is not rich enough to pay those upshot of where we are today. Judgments, after previously testifying under oath that he and do you mean evade the is rich enough to pay those law simply by the delay in the trial . Or are you anticipating, based judgments. We will get to those struggles criminal defendant and civil on what youre seeing in this defendant donald trump is order today, that this court, five justices on this court facing in new york later this could actually find some Immunity Provisions to apply to hour. Today, at least four members of the United StatesSupreme Court agreed to hear Donald Trumps appeal arguing this case . That president ial immunity i cannot imagine five justices, lawrence, on the protects him from criminal prosecution for the charges filed by jack smith against Supreme Court saying donald trump has anything like a donald trump for crimes leading serious legal claim here. It is so antithetical to up to and on january 6th. It takes only four members of everything we as lawyers, as citizens, think about our the court to agree to hear a case, and of course it takes a government. And you know, the clip you just majority of five members of the showed before illustrates the court to issue an opinion in consequences. The case. The Supreme Court threw out a president can go and assassinate his political rival half of Donald Trumps appeal and say its an official act and you cant prosecute him . Today and granted a hearing on the other half of the appeal. Thats looney tunes, to put it the part of the appeal the Supreme Court threw out today was Donald Trumps claim of mildly. So no, i dont think that is Double Jeopardy on the basis that he is now being prosecuted the worry. The worry is the Supreme Court for some of the same crimes he agreed to hear this case and set a fairly slow schedule of was charged with in his second Impeachment Trial in the united hearing it on april 22nd. States senate, in which a majority of senators voted to you know trump wanted a longer schedule, but still, thats a find him guilty, but not the two thirds necessary to convict long time. And for reasons that we can talk about, when you start him. The Supreme Court gave trumps doing the math, there is a real lawyers three weeks to submit risk that donald trump could their brief and gave jack smith then three weeks to reply to evade justice and evade this the trump brief, then the trump prosecution. It seems, according to the lawyers will get a final week question that the Supreme Court for a final written reply, and a week after that the supreme is asking, that this could be a narrower argument in front of court will hear the arguments the Supreme Court. In the case on april 22nd. There might apparently there will be nothing about double the Supreme Court is not being jeopardy. Because those are the two asked to provide total and questions the Trump Lawyers absolute immunity for any and brought to the Supreme Court, all possible criminal conduct the Double Jeopardy and this by a president. The trump petition to the immunity for official acts, or as the Trump Lawyers put it, Supreme Court only asks for acts that are at the outer immunity for a president s perimeter of official duties. It seems that discussion about official acts or, quote, those performed within the outer perimeter of his official the perimeter and what is an responsibility. The argument trumps lawyers official act will be the focus of this argument. Thats exactly right, donald make before the Supreme Court trumps lawyers have made could be a rerun of some of what we heard in the Appeals Court. Could a president order s. E. A. L. Team six to assassinate a political rival . Another argument about Double Jeopardy, which was even more bogus then their absolute thats an official act, an immunity one. And that is releasing order to s something. He would have to fore the youve got to try to come up with an argument thats weaker then the absolute immunity one. But Donald Trumps lawyers managed to find it, and the Supreme Court did not bother prosecution. But if you arent, there wanting to hear that piece of would be no colonel it, youre absolutely right. So it does turn on this prosecution, no criminal liability for that . Absolute immunity thing. And the way that the court has written it it says alleged the chief justices opinion official acts. And by the alleged official acts, they dont mean what the prosecutor is alleging, they mean what donald trump, the former president , is alleging. And the idea that someone can just stand up and say, well, because i was a former president , im alleging these are official acts, like try to launch a coup on january 6th, thats an official act, and now you have to evaluate my Immunity Claim. That cant possibly, lawrence, be what the law is. So im not worried about the Supreme Court ultimately doing the right thing when they hear this case. Im worried about how long it is going to take for the Supreme Court to do the right thing and whether the American Public is going to be deprived in the interim of actually donald trump ever reaching justice. And theres one other point i would make about this, which has to do with prosecutorial norms. Because there is an informational asymmetry here. During this whole delay period, while trump, while the Supreme Court hears trumps case, trump can go out to the cameras and say the case is bogus and attack jack smith and all sorts of stuff. Federal prosecutors dont act that way. They only get to speak through their filings and their presentation of evidence. So now with these months and months of delay, thats great for trump. He is going to get to claim hes being persecuted without the public ever having the opportunity to actually hear the very Persuasive Evidence against him, or a jury to hear those things. Neal, im wondering why it took the time it took for the Supreme Court to issue this one sentence question, which is what the argument is going to be about. So what i am wondering about is, as you know the court and as you see what they issued today, is it possible that they were struggling to get to four, that there were three and they were working on getting a fourth and it took them a while to get to a fourth . Or is it possible that there may be well more than four, including people who have different incentives for this, including possible, you know, justices appointed by democratic president s who think, you know, something this big the Supreme Court should have the last word on it. And then, how long would it take a group of Supreme Court justices to negotiate the exact wording of that question they issued to the lawyers today . Lawrence, im totally baffled by why it took this long. The Supreme Court can act more quickly. It did in the colorado case. It can rewrite the question, presented very fast. And i have a lot of institutional respect for the Supreme Court. I was there this morning arguing a different case with my team. But you know, this is a little bit troubling. The best, i think, point i can come up with is donald trump did something last week which might have put some fuel on the fire of the Supreme Court hearing this case, which is he directed his lawyers in the mar alago stolen documents case to file another bogus absolute Immunity Claim there. And what that might have done is say to the Supreme Court, look, this decision that we are being asked to review is from washington, d. C. And yes, its our nations second highest court, but it only governs washington, d. C. Florida and the court of appeals there might come to a different result, and we could have some conflict on this big legal issue. And so therefore, we, the Supreme Court, should hear this issue to set a rule for the entire nation. Thats the best i can come up with for why the timing is what it is. But i am very concerned that the court has set an april 22nd hearing date here, they couldve moved more quickly. Bush versus gore, that whole case went to the Supreme Court on two different times, all within a 36day period, briefing, decisions, everything. Neal, i want to go back to that point, because i was thinking about that today. You and others raised it, when donald trump raise that Immunity Defense in florida, instantly lawyers started saying uhoh, this means the Supreme Court is probably going to have to take it. Because the District Court of appeals in washington d. C. Is not going to be a controlling opinion for the 11th circuit down there, where that case is. So theres a certain logic. My question about that is is that could be an issue that Ketanji Brown jackson wants to handle. Thats one of the areas where it seems to me there is a wide range of members of the court who might say, you know, if hes raising this immunity in two different jurisdictions, we just have to take it. Yeah, i agree with that. I guess the thing i would say to the other side though is why set it for on april 22nd argument . Why take so long . And neal, is that completely up to the chief justice, the scheduling . Its generally as a matter of practice is, but i dont think you do something without the support of his colleagues. I think maybe the best thing we can hope for is that the chief and other justices feel like, look, there is still a lot of room in the joints, that we can decide this case quickly, and that theres two other actors here who other actors here who could truncate their calendars. Judge chutkan has said, look, im going to give trump 88 days from the time the immunity cases decided to the actual start of trial. But she said that well before the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case. And now trump has got many more months to prepare for trial. And the other is jack smith said this trial could take 2 to 3 months, but he has lots of options available to truncate the trial and make it go more quickly. So its still very possible that the court could hear this case and still have donald trump tried before the election. But the math is a bit more difficult now. Neal katyal, i cannot thank you enough for extending your workday all the way past ten pm to join us on this important night. Thank you. Thanks, neal. And coming up, Harvard Constitutional Law ProfessorLaurence Tribe will join our discussion next. Discussion next. And blood clots, some fatal; cancers, including lymphoma and skin cancer; death, heart attack, stroke, and tears in the stomach or intestines occurred. People 50 and older with at least 1 Heart Disease risk factor have higher risks. Dont take if allergic to rinvoq as serious reactions can occur. Tell your doctor if you are or may become pregnant. Put uc in check and keep it there with rinvoq. 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