Senate Democrats enlist ex-Watergate prosecutor to slam Trump immunity ruling
By
Kaelan Deese
September 24, 2024 2:43 pm
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The Democratic-led Senate Judiciary Committee discussed the Supreme Court immunity decision in favor of former President Donald Trump on Tuesday, calling in witnesses, including a former Watergate prosecutor, to scrutinize the landmark ruling.
“The court has always been subject to criticism,” former Deputy Solicitor General Philip Allen Lacovara, who served as counsel to the Watergate prosecution against former President Richard Nixon, said at the outset of the hearing, arguing that the Supreme Court’s July 1 decision in Trump v. United States is “profoundly wrong for several reasons.”
Lacovara was a key witness for Democrats who have expressed outrage for months since the Supreme Court found presidents enjoy some immunities against prosecution, complicating the two federal cases against Trump as he seeks reelection. The committee is chaired by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), who often balks at decisions by the high court’s Republican-appointed majority and is a leading instigator of criticism over alleged ethical lapses on the high court.
“I know from my own experience in the Watergate affair that President Nixon was under active criminal investigation for his role in the cover-up. President Clinton was, President Reagan was,” Lacovara said.
“At no time before 2024 did any serious lawyer, and nor did any of those presidents, claim that there was any kind of immunity from criminal exposure for crimes committed in office, including crimes committed allegedly in the performance of official function,” the former Watergate attorney added.
https://twitter.com/JudiciaryDems/status/1838605759359152215more
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/justice/3164125/senate-democrats-enlist-ex-watergate-prosecutor-slam-trump-immunity-ruling/
