Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit is considering whether or not Donald Trump has immunity from being prosecuted for his attempts to overturn the 2020 election.  This morning the three-judge panel appeared skeptical as they heard from Trump’s lawyers pleading for complete immunity for Trump.  One of Trump;s lawyers, John  Sauer, claims that a president cannot be convicted of a crime if he was acting in an official capacity.  One of the questions Judge Florence Pan asked of Sauer was, “Could a president order SEAL Team Six to assassinate a political rival? That is an official act, an order to SEAL Team Six.”  Sauer responded that yes, a president could do that and would have immunity from prosecution unless first impeached and convicted of the impeachment charges in the Senate.

So, under that (false) premise, Donald Trump could have ordered a National Guard unit or any other military unit under his command to murder Joe Biden prior to January 20^th when Biden was officially sworn into office and would have immunity so long as he wasn’t impeached and convicted by Congress.  Trump’s lawyers all seem to have a knack for twisting the law into a pretzel of their own making.

BULLSHIT!

The U.S. Constitution does give the president broad powers, but there are limits!  Now, let me throw something out here for you to think about.  What if President Obama had lost his re-election bid in 2012 and had done something similar to what Trump did, claiming the election was “rigged” and plotting to install fake electors to override the will of the people, then inciting an insurrection by loyalist thugs?  Can you even begin to imagine the outrage that would have taken place?  The difference?  Simple:  skin colour.  Don’t ever let anyone tell you that systemic racism in the U.S. doesn’t exist.  Oh yes … it is a large part of the reason we are where we are today, in a courtroom attempting to hold a former president accountable for crimes he committed.

Senator Mitch McConnell and the others who refused to vote to convict Trump on the impeachment charges back in 2021 did this nation a great disservice and left the door open for the current chaos that is costing the taxpayers both money and sleep.

After the hearing, Trump and another of his attorneys, John Lauro, spoke to the press … more lies, nothing worthy of repeating here, but Trump had one last parting shot, saying that if he loses this appeal, “It will be bedlam in the country.”  And this is the man that most Republicans want to see elected in November???

The judges on the Appeals Court seemed skeptical of Trump’s immunity claims, with Judge Karen Henderson saying, “I think it is paradoxical to say that his constitutional duty to take care of the laws be faithfully executed allows him to violate criminal law.”  Let us hope they reject the immunity claims, but even so, this is merely another step in the process, for next up will be an appeal to the Supreme Court – more time wasted while the clock is ticking ever closer to election day.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch … while there is critical work to be done on appropriations bills and border security issues, Congress is busily filing more and more impeachment charges … so far they are attempting to impeach President Biden, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, and most recently, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.  Have I missed anybody?  Who will be next in their sham impeachments?  In ten days, parts of the government will shut down because the Republicans in the House of Representatives are too busy playing mindless games to do the jobs we’re paying them to do.  Note to readers:  None of these ‘impeachments’ are likely to go anywhere … they are merely distractions intended to rile the Republican masses.

And on that note … have a great afternoon!