The Supreme Court says a president cannot be prosecuted for crimes committed while he is conducting his “official acts.” Those acts include things like discussions with administration officials, military decisions, and policy decisions. (New York Times, “The Morning,” 7-2-24)
I like this ruling. It makes life a lot easier for someone who is just super smart about enhancing his career as an American leader. I can see why former President Trump is ecstatic.
This decision says the President can’t commit private crimes like rob a bank while in office. He can, however, steal funds all day long from the public treasury because managing public funds is “acting within his constitutional authority.” He would be foolish not to take a cut of the action.
Also, if he is nominating a judge for the court, it is okay if he takes a bribe to decide which nomination to make, because nominating judges is his duty. You gotta find some way to distinguish one judge from another, don’t you?
If he discusses plans with other administration officials to send Green Berets to assassinate the president of Mexico because that guy pissed him off, that is okay because those conversations are protected, and he is in charge of the military. This is a little different way of doing things than in the Roman democracy we used to base our democracy on, however. In Rome, military malfeasance was prosecuted or impeached in numerous cases, because Rome didn’t want their public servants acting out of personal passion and injuring the interests of the nation. But, oh well.
A former President can’t break into the campaign offices of a political opponent while he is in a private capacity. But if he is in office, this is excusable because there is a natural urge inherent in every powerful position that makes one want to stay in that office for a lifetime. Nixon didn’t get away with this, but times have changed.
The thing about crimes related to “policy changes” being okay is just a little curious, because policy changes are the bailiwick of the legislative branch. The actual Constitution says that making laws, declaring war, and raising revenue are not a part of the President’s job. But the Supreme Court has long looked the other way while presidents have been quietly switching those duties over to themselves.
Today, it’s okay if the Prez decrees a new revenue policy taxing liberal billionaires in order to finance a personal presidential hot war against a liberal prime minister in Canada.
That’s all okay, because the Supreme Court doesn’t consult the Constitution anymore.