George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley said the Supreme Court justices are “advancing fairly extreme arguments” relating to former President Donald Trump’s presidential immunity claim.
The nine justices heard oral arguments regarding Trump’s claim he is entitled to “absolute immunity” relating to actions taken during his time in office Thursday. Turley argued in a New York Post op-ed that both the liberal and conservative justices are set to “plunge into a constitutional abyss” given they are on the extremes.
“Both parties are advancing fairly extreme arguments,” Turley said Friday. “You’ve got the Special Counsel [Jack Smith] saying a president has no immunity and you have the other side saying a president has complete immunity. And the justices, the three liberal justices, clearly seem to be intending to support the special counsel. But the other justices wanted to find a third option, and they didn’t buy the government saying ‘you have to trust us, we’re the government.’ You know, you can almost see some of these justices looking north towards New York. Because the third lawyer in that room was [Manhattan District Attorney] Alvin Bragg, because everything they were discussing about political cases is unfolding at the same time in New York.”