'Bulletproof decision': Legal expert says Trump took 'body blow' with appeals court defeat
The appellate court decision smacking down former President Donald Trump's claim of absolute presidential immunity from criminal prosecution was a mortal blow to his legal case, former federal prosecutor Andrew Weissmann told MSNBC's Joy Reid on Tuesday.
All that remains to be answered, he said, is whether the Supreme Court will take up a review of that decision.
"Our level of freak-out was that this was taking so long," said Reid. "Was it worth the wait?"
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"The decision is great, but just remember where we were at the argument," said Weissmann, who previously served in the Robert Mueller investigation. "At the oral argument, there wasn't anyone who was saying Donald Trump would win. One of the best ways of defeating the argument was when Judge Pan, one of the three judges, got the lawyer to say — could you just repeat what your argument is? Your argument is the president can kill people and can't be prosecuted. I mean, it was to say it was to refute it."
This ruling, he continued, "is a really bulletproof decision. It's just body blow after body blow. It's also beautifully written about upholding the Constitution and what it means to be in America. And it is clearly written with an eye toward getting the Supreme Court to say no, so that there is no further delay. In fact, one of the things we were talking about as we were coming on is a little note in there that says essentially your only recourse, Donald Trump, is the Supreme Court, because if you come back to us, we're not issuing the stay. This is going — if you don't get the Supreme Court, it's going back to Judge Chutkan."
"So it's really clear that the D.C. Circuit is fully behind this, as they should be," Weissmann added. "Yes, we would all like it be sooner because this is a race against the clock in terms of accountability, but we are where we are. I think the next thing to look for is no question Donald Trump is going to seek a stay in the Supreme Court. And the real question that we will know very quickly is, does he have four votes [to get it heard by the Supreme Court]?"
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