Why The Supreme Court Trump Immunity Decision May Be Acting In Anticipation Of 2nd Trump Presidency

2 years ago

On "Forbes Newsroom," Claire Finkelstein, Director of UPenn's Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law, explained why the Supreme Court's presidential immunity decision pertaining to former President Trump may be in anticipation of a second Trump term.

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Transcript

00:00Now, Professor Finkelstein, what do you think is happening here?

00:02There seems to be a pattern that people who are sort of observing or claiming that there's

00:07potentially judicial overreach here, that the Supreme Court is—there's delay tactics

00:13here, there's sort of coddling of former President Trump's cases in order potentially

00:17to benefit him.

00:20What do you see as the pattern that may be occurring here, if there even is one?

00:26Well, what's really striking to me is the difference between the Trump v. Vance case

00:31just decided four years ago in 2020 and this case, because there's only been one change

00:39in the court's identity since 2020, and that's Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.

00:51And she did not change the balance significantly, certainly not for the more conservative side.

00:59And it was a Justice Roberts opinion in both cases.

01:03So you remember in the Trump v. Vance case, which also dealt with immunity, albeit a different

01:09kind of immunity, the court was unanimous in finding that presidents were not above

01:18the law.

01:19And so they seem, just in four short years, to have reversed themselves and to have taken

01:24a very different position with regard to presidential authority.

01:30How did that happen?

01:31Well, I think one of the things that happened, which is really striking, is that they are

01:37acting now in anticipation of a second Trump presidency.

01:43And they're expecting that presidency to be quite lawless.

01:49And they may be, despite holding lifetime tenure, may be afraid.

01:55And they may also be afraid of their own accountability, because significant questions have been raised

02:03about several of the members' ethics, and they are looking potentially for protection.

02:11So that's just a total speculation on my part.

02:14But if you could expand just a little bit on that, they are afraid that what exactly

02:18might happen?

02:19Well, they could be afraid of being held accountable for their own ethical problems, and they may

02:26be looking towards a potential Trump presidency for protection from him.

02:34But they also may be concerned about his promises to seek revenge against political enemies.

02:43So he has promised to use the Justice Department to seek revenge against political enemies.

02:51He has said, he has promised that he will use the Justice Department in lawless ways,

02:58and that he will seek to prosecute those who get in his way and those who have tried

03:05to hold him accountable.

03:08And so people may be, this may be a reflection of a tide turning in which people are afraid

03:16to stand up to him.

03:17People are afraid of the consequences.

03:20So potentially moving more towards an authoritarian type of scenario in the United States, which

03:28a lot of people have complained, to your point, that we are sort of being governed

03:32by fiat, by a court that is, I mean, the Supreme Court in general is an unelected body.

03:38It's an undemocratic body.

03:40But now we have this conservative supermajority that a lot of people are concerned about that

03:44is not bowing at all to stare decisis, but is creating completely new rules.

Why The Supreme Court Trump Immunity Decision May Be Acting In Anticipation Of 2nd Trump Presidency

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