Photo: Alamy
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments last week on the issue of presidential immunity and whether it applies to criminal liability, a crucial argument upon which President Trump has stood his ground.
The president has maintained that presidential immunity should act as a shield to guard executive officers against blackmail and extortion while in office, and as he is the first president to ever be criminally prosecuted upon leaving the White House, he has a few thoughts on the subject. Namely, some of the president’s opponents have wondered if Trump would utilize the power of the executive office in a prospective 2025 administration to exact vengeance upon those who have attacked him.
When asked by TIME magazine whether he would prosecute Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who is spearheading his current criminal trial in New York, Trump replied, “We are going to have great retribution through success. We’re going to make our country successful again. Our retribution is going to be through success of our country.”
This response, however, ties directly into the aforementioned issue of presidential immunity. In the past, Trump has stated that he would appoint a special prosecutor to “investigate every detail of the Biden crime family of corruption.”
Biden is accused of participating in an influence-peddling scheme that benefitted his family during his time as vice president. “This is a SICK NEST of people that needs to be cleaned out and cleaned out IMMEDIATELY,” Trump said last summer.
In his comments to TIME, President Trump scaled his remarks on the prosecuting Biden, contrasting them against a potential ruling from the Supreme Court on presidential immunity. He expanded, “Well, it depends what happens with the Supreme Court. Look, a president should have immunity. That includes Biden. If they’ve ruled that they don’t have immunity, Biden, probably nothing to do with me, he would be prosecuted for 20 different acts, because he’s created such.”
Trump noted that “I would be included not to do it [prosecute],” but that if a president “doesn’t get immunity, then Biden, I am sure, will be prosecuted for all of his crimes, because he’s committed many crimes.”
President Trump added that he was “not looking to hurt Biden” because “I have too much respect for the office.” He did temper his remarks with a solid point, however: “But he [Biden] is willing to hurt a former President who is very popular, who got 75 million votes. I got more votes than any other sitting president in history. And I have probably eight cases right now that are all inspired by them, including my civil case.”
