PUBLIC CITIZEN: being president is not supposed to be a license to commit crimes

Yesterday, Donald Trump’s lawyers officially asked the U.S. Supreme Court to grant Trump immunity for his illegal attempts to remain in power despite losing the 2020 election.

The Supreme Court will hear the case on April 25. (We don’t know how long it will take the Court to rule after that.)

Trump’s lawyers have already argued — with a straight face — that the former president would be immune from criminal prosecution even if he had ordered the military to assassinate a rival politician.

When we think of leaders who attained unchecked power to use violence, we tend to think of abhorrent historical figures like Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler.

Yet that is exactly what Donald Trump wants the Supreme Court to grant him — immunity from criminal penalties for any action a president takes.

I know words like “unprecedented” and “shocking” start to lose their meaning when it comes to Donald Trump. There is a strong temptation to tune it all out, to move on, to hope he just goes away somehow.

But if we don’t want to succumb to authoritarianism, we simply must not allow ourselves to become numb or indifferent.

Add your name if you agree:

Our democracy cannot and must not grant Donald Trump immunity for attempting to overturn the 2020 election. No U.S. president — not Donald Trump, not anyone — is above the law. Donald Trump must be held accountable.

Click to add your name now.

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For justice and democracy,

- Robert Weissman, President of Public Citizen
 
 

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