00:00 I'm Leanne Jackson, senior law editor at Forbes.
00:02 And today I am joined by professor of national security
00:06 law, Claire Finkelstein at the University of Pennsylvania Law
00:08 School.
00:09 She's also the faculty director of the Center for Ethics
00:12 and the Rule of Law.
00:14 And what's important to know about Professor Finkelstein
00:16 is that she filed an amicus brief in the immunity case
00:19 involving President Trump, former President Trump,
00:23 that the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on yesterday.
00:27 So I'm going to turn it over to you, Professor Finkelstein,
00:29 to give us a little bit more of your thoughts and analysis
00:33 about how the oral arguments went
00:34 and what direction you think this is going to take
00:36 and the impact on the underlying case here.
00:39 Well, thanks so much, Leanne.
00:41 It's a pleasure to join you.
00:43 This is the most significant immunity case
00:47 that the Supreme Court has heard yet.
00:49 There aren't a lot of cases, but there
00:52 are a few very famous cases, like US v. Nixon
00:56 on whether or not President Nixon had to turn over
00:59 the Watergate tapes, or Clinton v. Jones
01:03 about whether or not President Clinton had
01:05 to testify to a jury in the sexual harassment
01:10 suit by Paula Jones.
01:12 And then we had Trump v. Vance about whether or not
01:17 Cy Vance could subpoena Trump's former accountants
01:22 for his personal financial records.
01:25 But this is really the ultimate in immunity cases,
01:29 because here a former president is claiming
01:33 that in any matter whatsoever, not
01:38 in a particular circumstance, not
01:40 in some kind of minor temporary setting, but across the board
01:47 and in every case, a president is above the law
01:51 and cannot be convicted of a crime.
01:54 And that is such a sweeping claim
01:57 that if the Supreme Court were to agree
02:00 with former President Trump, our democracy
02:03 would literally come crashing down about our ears.
02:06 So it is really an incredibly important case.
Comments