Ex-federal prosecutor says Trump-appointed SCOTUS justice will shoot down immunity appeal

09 February 2024

Even if the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) rules that former President Donald Trump should be allowed back onto the Colorado Republican primary ballot, his bid for absolute broad presidential immunity is not likely to survive a SCOTUS appeal, according to a former federal prosecutor.

In a Friday evening interview with MSNBC host Ari Melber, Andrew Weissmann — who was an assistant US attorney for the Eastern District of New York for more than a decade – threw cold water on Trump's chances for SCOTUS to reverse the DC Circuit Court of Appeals' ruling that he does not have absolute criminal immunity in perpetuity. Weissmann added that even former Kenneth Starr associate counsel Brett Kavanaugh, whom Trump appointed to the Court in 2018, was unlikely to be moved by Trump's arguments given has past legal experience.

"Even if it wants to put its own imprimatur on this issue, I don't think it would be to overrule the DC Circuit, I think it would be to affirm it," Weissmann said. "Brett Kavanaugh, who is now on the Supreme Court obviously, was a part of that same group of special counsel, and obviously thought that Bill Clinton, when out of office, would be able to be prosecuted for crimes."

"This has failed in the district court, it has failed in the court of appeals, if the Supreme Court takes it, it will fail there," he continued.

Weissmann noted that as per the DC Circuit's order, Trump has until Monday to request a stay from SCOTUS in his immunity appeal before the case goes back to US District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who already rejected it. Even though the Court has a 6-3 conservative majority, many legal scholars believe the former president's quest to be permanently immune from crimes has a slim chance of success.

"I think there’s a strong chance the Supreme Court will unanimously uphold this,” Brennan Center for Justice president Michael Waldman told USA TODAY earlier this week. "The question to me is not how the court will rule, but when."

Should the Court rule against Trump or decline to hear his case, Judge Chutkan would be free to schedule a new trial date. Her originally scheduled March 4 trial date was struck from the calendar, but she may move to hold the trial after Trump's March 25 criminal trial in Manhattan District Court. District attorney Alvin Bragg is prosecuting Trump on more than 30 felony counts related to alleged hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels.

Watch the video of Weissmann's segment below, or by clicking this link.

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