Trump’s Quest for Total Presidential Immunity Has Hit a Snag

At the same time, granting blanket immunity from all state-level prosecutions to presidents could have dire implications. While federal offenses are also serious, the acts traditionally prosecuted by the states are central to what Americans consider to be criminal offenses: murder, manslaughter, rape, kidnapping, arson, burglary, fraud, shooting someone on Fifth Avenue, and so on. It is unthinkable that the justices could give anyone carte blanche to commit those crimes.

Trump also wants “presidential immunity” to extend beyond a president’s tenure in office. In his stay application, he asserted that just as sitting presidents can’t be targeted by state or federal prosecutions, neither can presidents-elect. “President Trump also stated that the doctrine of sitting-president immunity shields him from criminal process during the brief but crucial period of presidential transition, while he engages in the extraordinarily demanding task of preparing to assume the executive power of the United States,” Trump’s lawyers wrote, referring to lower-court filings.

The lower court disagreed, holding to the principle that there is only one president at a time. Trump is asking the courts to instead recognize that he is effectively a quasi-president right now and thus deserves special consideration. “These demands of time, energy, and attention are just as unconstitutionally burdensome and disruptive during the presidential transition as during the presidency itself,” his lawyers argued. “They are particularly burdensome when a president-elect faces the prospect of criminal judgment and sentencing during his transitional period.” Among those burdens is planning to annex Canada and Greenland.