Adam Schiff Demands Nom Tell Him Whether Trump Can Be Prosecuted For Having Seal Team 6 Kill Opponent

5 months ago

At today's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) questioned Jennifer Mascott, nominee to be United States Circuit Judge for the Third Circuit.

Transcript

00:00Chair. Professor, you've appeared before the committee many times, but the last time you were

00:04in committee was for a hearing entitled, When the President Does It, That Means It's Not Illegal,

00:10The Supreme Court's Unprecedented Immunity Decision. At the time, you described that

00:16immunity decision as modest, and I want to ask you about the modest impact of that decision.

00:21When John Sauer was here for his confirmation hearing, I asked him about an argument he made

00:26in that case before the Court of Appeals, in which he was asked specifically by the Court

00:32of Appeals judge, one of them, if the President were to order SEAL Team 6 to assassinate a political

00:39opponent, would he be immune? His answer apparently was yes, unless the President's party was willing

00:50to impeach him first. Is that your view as well? Would he be immune from prosecution for using

00:57the military to assassinate a political opponent? Well, Senator, as a lower court judge, I'd be fully

01:05bound by Supreme Court precedent. I don't, I mean, on that particular question, and this is one reason

01:11I address the opinion is modest, the opinion addresses only portions of presidential immunity.

01:18It specifically is addressing criminal immunity. I'll ask you a specific question. Would the

01:24President be immune from prosecution if he ordered SEAL Team 6 to assassinate a political opponent?

01:32No. Senator, under the Supreme Court precedent on that question, the Supreme Court has specifically

01:39not answered it. Is that a difficult question? Is that an open question in your view?

01:43Well, Senator, under the contours of Trump versus United States, which deals with criminal immunity,

01:51I'm not sure that it fully answers all of the political mechanisms that would be in place to

01:56address and keep such a horse horrific situation from ever occurring. So you're unclear as to whether

02:01a President could be prosecuted for that. Is that what you're saying? You don't know the answer?

02:06Well, I think what I'm saying is that within the particular contours of criminal immunity discussed

02:12in that opinion, it addresses actually what is an official act. And so I think the first threshold

02:17question would be whether one could ever conceive of such a thing as an official act.

02:22I don't want to filibuster my question. It's very simple. If the President tomorrow to order SEAL Team 6

02:28to assassinate a political opponent, in your view, is he immune from criminal prosecution absent and

02:34impeachment first? If it's not an official act, a phrase that has not yet been fully defined in the courts, he's-

02:39If he's using the military to do it, which the court said he has absolute immunity when he deploys the

02:45military, is he immune or not? Well, I don't read the court's decision to say that any use of the military

02:52outside of official acts comes within its immunity contours. And as this body knows, because of various

02:57drone strikes and other things- So, under the question I asked you, what's the answer, Professor? Yes or no?

03:01Senator- You're used to answering questions and asking your student questions. I'm asking you a very simple

03:07question. Yes or no? Is the President immune if he uses SEAL Team 6 to kill a political opponent? Senator-

03:12Yes or no? Senator- With respect, I think the Supreme Court- Okay, with respect, you're not willing to answer the

03:15question. Let me ask you a different question. It was recently reported that the President and his family made around

03:21six billion from the sale of crypto assets. Some of that money, much of that money comes from the Gulf. If the

03:30President were to sell a foreign policy decision to a Gulf nation in exchange for a crypto donation,

03:39is he immune from prosecution for that? Senator- Senator, I don't know anything

03:46about the situation that you are describing. As I have said- But you know something about the immunity

03:52decision. You said it was modest. I'm trying to determine just how modest you think it is. Can the

03:57President sell US foreign policy to the highest crypto donor and have a get out of jail free card?

04:05Or is he liable for prosecution? Senator- Senator, if I may, the Constitution has many

04:10constraints for all of us- You don't want to answer that question. Let me ask you a very different

04:13question. If the President were to use the military in direct violation of court order,

04:19deliberately, knowingly, blatantly use the military in violation of court order, is he immune from any

04:29liability? Senator, as I said when I testified last September about the decision, the Clinton

04:37administration had an opinion- I'm not asking about the Clinton administration-

04:40Senator- But it's directly relevant, that the President, the position of the Clinton administration-

04:45Senator- I'm not asking the position of the Clinton administration, I'm asking your position,

04:49your view of the immunity decision, which you've described as modest. I'm trying to determine just

04:53how modest you think it is. You're unwilling to say a President can't kill an opponent and be liable.

04:59You're unwilling to say the President can't sell foreign policy of the United States for cryptocurrency.

05:05You're unwilling to say he can't do that and still be immune. My question is,

05:09can he use the military in deliberate violation of court order and be immune? Yes or no?

05:13Senator- Senator, you're asking very specific questions about whether our criminal justice

05:17system is the forum to punish- Senator- Madam Chair, I yield back.

05:21Thank you. I'd like to enter into the record a letter from 48 former Justice Department officials

05:28that are familiar with Professor Mascott's work. They explained, quote, her academic scholarship has been

05:34cited in Supreme Court opinions. She has argued high-stakes federal cases and she has submitted

05:41scores of briefs in courts across the country. Mrs. Mascott has been a world-class mentor to hundreds of

05:49aspiring lawyers. She was also a standout attorney at the Department of Justice and her judgment is

05:55beyond reproach. She will make an excellent judge, end quote. Without objection-

06:00Without objection-

06:01Without objection-

Adam Schiff Demands Nom Tell Him Whether Trump Can Be Prosecuted For Having Seal Team 6 Kill Opponent

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