'Weaponizing the process': Legal expert reveals Trump’s 'goal' in 'manipulating' the judicial system

12 December 2023

Former President Donald Trump is claiming that he is immune from prosecution in special counsel Jack Smith's election interference case because he was still president in late 2020 and early 2021 — a claim that legal and national security expert Paul Rosenzweig tears apart in an article published by The Atlantic on December 12.

Smith has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review the matter immediately, and Rosenzweig warns that Trump's "manipulation of" the United States' legal system is a "dangerous moment" for the country.

"While democracy's defenders play by the rules and the rule of law, Trump bends the law to his own purposes," Rosenzweig argues. "That is the only conclusion one can reasonably draw from the latest special counsel filing, which asks the Supreme Court to hear immediately Trump's claim of absolute immunity from prosecution. The claim is nonsensical, and the special counsel's request for Supreme Court review is understandable — indeed, even commendable."

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Rosenzweig continues, "But once again, Trump has succeeded in weaponizing the judicial process to his own advantage, using the delay that comes with Supreme Court review to postpone his trial to a more politically advantageous time for him."

The legal and national security expert slams Trump's immunity claim as ludicrous but warns that it could work to his advantage if he gets his trial in the case delayed.

"The substance of the claim borders on the frivolous — inciting a riot and trying to steal an election are not official presidential acts," Rosenzweig says with obvious frustration. "But Trump's goal in raising his claim of immunity is presumably not to win. It is to delay his trial, with the hope that if he wins the next presidential election, he can kill the case altogether."

Rosenzweig notes that Trump has been appealing the December 1 ruling of a Washington, D.C. trial judge who "quite properly" rejected his immunity claim.

"This is a dangerous moment, when the best result is that the judicial system can only partially mitigate Trump's manipulation of it— and it may not manage even that," Rosenzweig writes. "One can only hope that the Supreme Court recognizes the gravity of the moment and treats the special counsel's request with the care it deserves."

Paul Rosenzweig's full article for The Atlantic is available at this link (subscription required).

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