PRESIDENTIAL IMMUNITY BEFORE SCOTUS
For the second time this year, the Supreme Court could hear oral arguments on a relatively untested area of constitutional law as it relates to former President Donald Trump and set a landmark precedent that could affect the 2024 presidential race.
Trump has asked the justices to effectively halt Special Counsel Jack Smith’s prosecution of him in D.C. by staying a lower court decision that rejected his claims of presidential immunity. His attorney argued in January that the Constitution required Congress to impeach and convict presidents before they could be tried in criminal court.
So far, the Supreme Court hasn’t said whether it will stay the lower court decision or address the precedent surrounding presidential immunity. It previously rejected Smith’s request to fast-track the appeal but it could take the case now that the D.C. Circuit has ruled on Trump’s initial appeal.
Smith responded with a brief arguing that Trump hadn’t shown a likelihood to succeed and that “delay in the resolution of these charges threatens to frustrate the public interest in a speedy and fair verdict.” Amicus briefs filed by former government officials and constitutional scholars also opposed Trump while arguing that his position on presidential immunity didn’t align with the Constitution.
Opinions vary on the validity of Trump’s arguments and whether they could succeed at the Supreme Court. Constitutional attorney Gayle Trotter told The Epoch Times that she didn’t think the justices would consider some of the “extreme” examples a lower court judge had raised about, for example, immunity allowing a president to assassinate their political opponent with SEAL Team Six.
By taking Trump’s case, the Court would likely look at how his actions fit within prior precedents. Two Court decisions—Mississippi v. Johnson and Nixon v. Fitzgerald—clarified that a president receives immunity from judicial review of his discretionary acts that fall within the “outer perimeter” of his official duties.
In practice, presidents generally enjoy immunity from civil liability but it’s unclear whether that immunity applies to allegedly criminal acts. Trump pleaded not guilty in August but is also arguing that immunity covers his actions under scrutiny in D.C.
Trump’s immunity arguments were weak in the view of former U.S. attorney Neama Rahmani, who doubted whether any of his acts in question were part of his official duties.
Heritage Foundation Vice President John Malcolm speculated that “there are certain activities, which I think he could legitimately say were within the outer perimeters of his office but there were some of those activities in which they weren’t really part of his duties as president of the United States.”
—Sam Dorman
AS TRUMP DOMINATES, HALEY STAYS IN THE GAME
As the Feb. 24 primary approaches, Trump and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley have been battling it out as the last major remaining GOP candidates.
Haley has sought to contrast herself with her former boss, when she served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, in terms of policies and style.
Nonetheless, Trump appears to have all but secured the GOP nod, especially as the winner of the South Carolina primary has gone on to win the Republican nomination. The former president has the South Carolina political elite, including Gov. Henry McMaster, behind him as Trump has his base that has taken over the GOP.
A notable exception to the South Carolina political elite who is not backing Trump is Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), who has been supporting Haley from the get-go.
“I could care less I’m the only one out there,” Norman told The Epoch Times. “I don’t really care what people say about me.”
Haley, he argued, would carry out Trump-like agenda items on energy, deportations, and more while drawing in more independent and young voters. She would also be poised to run again in 2028.
Despite widespread opposition from her own party in South Carolina, Haley has continued campaigning throughout the Palmetto State, which has an open primary and lack of party registration which creates more room for Democrats and liberal-leaning independents to boost her against Trump.
Even the worst polling for Haley shows double-digit support for her from likely Republican primary voters. Some Republicans in the Palmetto State remain loyal to their former governor, or particularly averse to choosing Trump again.
Haley, meanwhile, is maintaining that she’ll stay in the race beyond the South Carolina GOP primary on Saturday.
“I promise you this: on Sunday, I’m headed to Michigan. And then we’re headed to Super Tuesday states. And we’re gonna keep on going,” she said yesterday to a crowd at the Cannon Centre, a wedding venue in Greer, South Carolina, a town in the northwest corner of the state.
However, as Haley packs restaurants and similar-sized venues, the views among attendees of massive Trump events in South Carolina may be closer to the norm among South Carolina Republican primary voters.
—Nathan Worcester, Jackson Richman and Joseph Lord
WHAT’S HAPPENING
- Biden attends a campaign fundraiser in Los Angeles, California
- Haley gives a “State of the Race” speech in Greenville, South Carolina, at noon Eastern
- Trump participates in a pre-taped town hall in Spartanburg, South Carolina hosted by Fox News that will air at 7 p.m. Eastern
Electric vehicle sales have slumped as Americans prefer gas-powered cars, reports The Epoch Times’ Allan Stein from Mesa, Arizona. This also comes as the infrastructure for electric vehicles is a work in progress.
Agricultural groups in Eastern Europe are objecting to unfair imports of agricultural products from Ukraine and the European Union’s agricultural policies, reports Ella Kietlinska. They have made numerous demands to EU Agricultural Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski including addressing the rising production costs due to the EU’s stringent environmental regulations.
As The Epoch Times’ Jackson Richman reports, Nikki Haley sounded the alarm on Sunday during a town hall on Fox News, lamenting that the GOP has ignored Gen Z voters. This comes as 58 percent of that demographic is unsure it will vote in November, according to an Axios-Generation Lab poll.
The Biden administration is slowing one of its green initiatives—a tailpipe emissions rule meant to accelerate the shift to electric vehicles, according to The New York Times.
Expect Biden to reset his re-election campaign with his State of the Union speech next month as there are fears he could lose a likely rematch with Trump, according to a deep-dive by Axios.
