Why is the Federal Appeals Court for the D.C. Circuit taking so long to rule on former President Donald Trump's immunity claim in the federal election conspiracy case? MSNBC legal analyst Lisa Rubin has a theory.
Specifically, she argued to anchor Alex Wagner, she thinks one of the judges is considering a ruling that could effectively make any decision impossible before the election — and the other two are trying to stop her.
"I mean, a little peek behind the curtain, every night, Lisa, every night you say is this the night that the appeals court will reach a decision ... so far, goose egg, we have got nothing," said Wagner. "What's happening here, in your estimation?"
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"I can only have a guess as to what's happening here," said Rubin. "But we have a three-judge panel on the D.C. Circuit. My guess is these three judges have a general agreement between them that Donald Trump should not be immune from prosecution in the federal election interference case. How they get there, on the other hand, is a different matter. And in the ideal world, all three of them would like to be in total agreement. They'd like to issue what's called a per curiam agreement, where all three of them get to sign on, but of course, there are many different paths to getting there."
"One judge suggested during an argument that what really matters to her is the allegations against Trump are ones that affect his duties, or that affect him in the campaign capacity, and suggested almost that you really had to parse the indictment," Rubin continued. "That would be the worst of all worlds, because that can mean sending the case back to Judge Chutkan to determine which aspects of the indictment are worthy of immunity and which are not. And that could even further elongate case beyond the appellate process."
"So I think that's behind the scenes, the two judges would like to get there, in an easier way more akin to Judge Chutkan, are really putting some pressure on Judge Henderson to try to get on board and see if they could do something unanimously," she added.
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