Sauer never got the chance to answer his own rhetorical questions, because at this point, the panel’s most incisive and persistent questioner jumped in. “Can I explore the implications of what you are arguing?” inquired Judge Florence Y. Pan, a Biden appointee and longtime federal prosecutor in the nation’s capital who also served on the Superior Court as well as the United States District Court there. “I understand your position to be that a president is immune from criminal prosecution for any official act, even if that action is taken for an unlawful or unconstitutional purpose. Is that correct?”
Sauer’s answer: Yes, but with an exception. The exception being that, if a president is impeached by the House of Representatives and convicted by the Senate, then and only then can he be prosecuted in a criminal court, after he leaves office, for the offenses for which the Senate had convicted him.
I listened to the exchange about a president ordering Seal Team 6 to assassinate a political rival. The lawyer's arguments were a combination of absurd and frightening. The whole thing made me think TFG really believes he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue...
-------------------------------- When the world wearies and society ceases to satisfy, there is always the garden - Minnie Aumônier
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