LETTER: Scenarios for an imperial presidency
Your view is that the Supreme Court acted judiciously in granting immunity to presidents, and that the immunity will not lead to a “law-free zone” around the president (Tuesday editorial).
Yet the ruling states that official acts — defined as those within “his core constitutional powers,” such as discussions with his justice department — are absolutely immune. Further, in trying to distinguish official from unofficial, the courts “may not inquire into the president’s motives.”
Consider this scenario: President Joe Biden orders his Justice Department to pursue completely invented charges against Donald Trump, or House Speaker Mike Johnson or Gov. Joe Lombardo. Or he orders the release of tax returns of anyone in the country. Because his dealings with the executive branch are within his core constitutional powers, he is therefore immune from any legal recourse, no matter how bad his motives or otherwise criminal his actions might be.
Or suppose the fall election is a close one, but favors Mr. Trump. If President Biden were to concoct a scheme to avoid surrendering power … oh, I don’t know, by threatening to pursue completely invented charges against electors who did not change their votes to keep him in power, or ordering the army to seize ballot boxes, this ruling says there’s not one thing anyone could or should be able to do about it.
Careful. The dog might just have caught the car.