'Bizarre first sentence': Ex-prosecutor slams Trump's presidential immunity plea to SCOTUS

Former President Donald Trump’s request that the Supreme Court consider his presidential immunity claim managed to hit a “bizarre” and “incredibly inappropriate” tone by the end of its first sentence, former Justice Department prosecutor Andrew Weissmann said Monday.

Weissmann was shocked that a Supreme Court filing — which argues Trump enjoyed absolute freedom as a sitting president — began with an oft-quoted quip from famous former New York Yankees catcher Yogi Berra; “This application is ‘déjà vu all over again.”

“Their position is that the President of the United States can kill people,” Weissmann said on MSNBC. “If you were going to be snarky, they might as well have cited Yogi Bear.”

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That the former president's lawyers had time for jokes surprised Weissmann, considering Trump stands accused in Washington D.C. federal court of criminally attempting to overturn a presidential election in 2020.

Special counsel Jack Smith’s prosecution has been put on hold as Trump, who pleaded not guilty, pushes his presidential immunity argument through the appeals court system.

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has already ruled Trump’s argument doesn’t hold water, which spurred the former president to take his case to the Supreme Court on Monday.

Smith, hoping to speed up proceedings, also asked the Supreme Court to consider Trump’s argument in December. The justices turned him down. Whether they will consider the argument now that it's been heard in an appeals court remains unclear.

What is clear is their decision will have ramifications beyond the court system.

“For something this serious,” Weissmann said, “that is a bizarre, really bizarre first sentence.”

The former prosecutor, who expects the Justice department to respond this week, said he also took umbrage with Trump’s opening with an argument previously rejected by a well respected judge.

“This is just my initial impression,” Weissmann hedged but admitted, “both of those are not terribly, in my view, strong ways to start.”

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