Does Immunity Love Company?
Politix
Politix
4.6 • 1.4K Ratings
🗓️ 3 July 2024
⏱️ 14 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Just days after the first presidential debate, which has plunged Democrats into a crisis of confidence, the Supreme Court has intervened to declare that presidents have absolute immunity from criminal prosecutions for any actions they take with their exclusive and plenary powers, and even presumptive immunity for their other official acts.
We’d viewed this case mainly with an eye to its impact on the criminal prosecution of Donald Trump for trying to overturn the 2020 election. But that’s only because we (like most people) imagined the Supreme Court might delay the trial without radically altering the balance of power between the branches. They instead went much, much further.
With Matt on vacation, Brian welcomes former Solicitor General Don Verrilli as this week’s special guest. Brian and Don discuss:
* How the court’s ruling creates two sets of rules: One for law-abiding presidents and one for Donald Trump and his imitators;
* Whether and how Joe Biden can use this new ruling for good;
* What if anything Congress can do about it short of amending the constitution or packing the Supreme Court.
If you aren’t yet a paid subscriber to Politix, you can listen to the whole conversation by upgrading to a paid subscription.
Transcript
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| 0:15.0 | You know Congress can enact legislation that says well here's what we here's what we consider the line between official and unofficial acts to be and here's the kind of proof that we think courts should be able to hear and here's what we think the burden of proof should be to overcome the presumption. And you know, and put it to the Supreme Court to declare that unconstitutional. |
| 0:20.0 | Hey everyone, you're listening to a free preview of the politics |
| 0:26.5 | podcast with Matt on vacation this week and the news blowing up I wanted to bring |
| 0:32.3 | listeners a special conversation about the Supreme |
| 0:35.0 | Court's decision that presidents are immune from prosecution for their |
| 0:39.2 | official conduct. Beyond sparing Donald Trump |
| 0:42.5 | Donald Trump a criminal trial for trying to overthrow the 2020 election, |
| 0:46.2 | which was presumably the whole point, the decision has extremely far-reaching |
| 0:51.0 | implications for a second Trump term if he wins and in theory for the |
| 0:55.4 | remainder of Joe Biden's time in office. It fundamentally reconceives the |
| 1:00.0 | presidency in some ways at least in the hands of rule-breaking and law-breaking |
| 1:05.0 | presidents, if not more generally. This week we'll discuss that decision with |
| 1:09.8 | Don Vrilly. Some of you may remember Don as the Obama administration |
| 1:14.8 | Solicitor General. He successfully defended the Affordable Care Act from life or |
| 1:19.2 | death challenges in the Supreme Court multiple times and with a granular understanding of the President's power, |
| 1:26.0 | he can help us understand what the ruling means in the near and short term. |
| 1:31.0 | I hope you enjoy the conversation, and if you want to hear the whole thing you can |
| 1:35.2 | upgrade your subscription to paid at politics.fm. |
| 1:38.7 | Hey everyone, welcome to the politics podcast. I'm Brian Boiler. |
| 1:46.3 | Matt's on vacation this week just in time for the news to explode. |
| 1:50.5 | And just days after the first presidential debate, which has plunged Democrats into a crisis of confidence, |
| 1:57.0 | the Supreme Court has intervened to declare that presidents have absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for any actions they take |
... |
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