Jack Smith & SCOTUS: Heads Trump loses, Tails Trump loses

Jack Smith has gone directly to the Supreme Court to test Trump's claims of immunity as President and after leaving office. This is a two-edged sword for Trump. If he succeeds and a bogus SCOTUS grants him immunity, then there are no legal boundaries to stop Biden from declaring Trump a danger to the nation and locking him up, denying him bail, and throwing away the key. After all, Biden will have absolute immunity under the Trumpian doctrine.

And there seems to be plenty of evidence to suggest that Trump has committed #TRE45ON on a massive scale, not least from his closed-door session with his handler in Helsinki, his attempt to overthrow the Consitution, and most recently with his "handling" of highly classified documents.

And if the SCOTUS upholds the idea that no person is above the law and that Presidents are not kings, then Trump is truly screwed.  The court cases in federal and state courts will go ahead, and he will effectively be out of delaying tactics in at least one or two of the cases against him. Owning a judge in the Mar a Lago case may help delay things, but not forever. The Georgia case will go ahead, and that is the most scary one for him, as even if he Is elected, he cannot pardon himself for a state-level conviction, and in Georgia, even the governor cannot pardon someone until they have served at least five years of their sentence.  

But imagine if the SCOTUS declares that Trump does have immunity? The gloves can then come off. Trump thinks that this will be his "get out of jail free" card. Instead, it is his "go directly to jail, do not collect $200" card.

So the SCOTUS finds that a sitting President is above the law and can never be tried. Sounds great. Biden declares Trump an “enemy combatant” as they did with José Padilla (also known as Abdullah al-Muhajir). Locks him up as a “material witness” to the events of January 6, 2021, and then basically throws away the key. And all of that done “legally”, and not able to be challenged because, well, because of Presidential Immunity. 

Now, the Pedilla case was probably one of the worst abuses of legal authority against an American citizen. He was arrested on American soil, deprived of any of his constitutional rights, and effectively locked up until he dies or serves out a 21-year sentence imposed as retribution for daring to assert his rights. Oh, and for being poor, Hispanic, and, worst of all, a convert to Islam. Seem that all of these factors make the mirroring of his fate on Trump all the more attractive.

The wording from the Padilla Wikipedia entry (accessed today) could be used with a few edits. 

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On June 9, 2002, two days before District Court Judge Michael Mukasey was to issue a ruling on the validity of continuing to hold Padilla under the material witness warrant, President George Bush issued an order to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to detain Padilla as an "enemy combatant." Padilla was transferred to a military brig in Charleston, South Carolina, without any notice to his attorney or family. The order "legally justified" the detention using the 2001 AUMF passed in the wake of September 11, 2001, (formally "The Authorization for Use of Military Force Joint Resolution" (Public Law 107-40)) and opined that a U.S. citizen detained on U.S. soil can be classified as an enemy combatant. (This opinion is based on the decision of the United States Supreme Court in the case of Ex parte Quirin, a case involving the detention of eight German spies operating in the United States while working for Nazi Germany during World War II.)[16] 

 

According to the text of the ensuing decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, Padilla's detention as an "enemy combatant" (pursuant to the President's order) was based on the following reasons: 

  

1. Padilla was "closely associated with al Qaeda," a designation for loosely knit insurgent groups sharing common ideals and tactics, "with which the United States is at war"; 
2. he had engaged in "war-like acts, including conduct in preparation for acts of international terrorism"; 
3. he had intelligence that could assist the United States in warding off future terrorist attacks; and 
4. he was a continuing threat to American security. 

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The potential Trump Wikipedia entry: 

On December 24, 2023, two days before District Court Judge Anyone was to issue a ruling on the validity of continuing to hold Trump under the material witness warrant (to the January 6, 2021 events), President Joe Biden issued an order to Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III to detain Trump as an "enemy combatant." Trump was transferred to a military brig in Charleston, South Carolina, without any notice to his attorney or family. The order "legally justified" the detention using the 2001 AUMF passed in the wake of September 11, 2001, (formally "The Authorization for Use of Military Force Joint Resolution" (Public Law 107-40)) and opined that a U.S. citizen detained on U.S. soil can be classified as an enemy combatant. (This opinion is based on the decision of the United States Supreme Court in the case of Ex parte Quirin, a case involving the detention of eight German spies operating in the United States while working for Nazi Germany during World War II.)[16] 

  

According to the text of the ensuing decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, Trump's detention as an "enemy combatant" (pursuant to the President's order) was based on the following reasons: 

  

1. Trump was "closely associated with Vladimir Putin," a designation for the leader of a nation sharing common ideals and tactics, "with which the United States is at war"; 
2. he had engaged in "war-like acts, including conduct in preparation for acts of international terrorism"; 
3. he had intelligence that could assist the United States in warding off future attacks; and 
4. he was a continuing threat to American security. 

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There. See how easy that would be. And all that needs to happen to make that real is for the SCOTUS to agree with Trump that he has immunity for any acts while or after being president. 

Bring it on.