Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) said Tuesday on CNN's “The Situation Room” that former President Donald Trump's legal claim of presidential immunity could lead to impeachment for the president's murder of the senator. “It's completely ridiculous,” he said.
“The presentation before a three-judge panel on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals was astonishing,” Raskin said. “Donald Trump and his lawyers essentially argued that the president has the right to assassinate people. He argued that he had the right to kill people without any prospect of prosecution unless he was impeached by the House of Representatives and convicted by the Senate.
He continued, “And of course, as a member of Congress, my first thought was, what if the president orders the assassination of a political opponent and there's a narrow two-vote margin in the Senate?” Or in the opposition party. What would it take to avoid being convicted of murdering a senator for denying a two-thirds majority, even with three votes? ”
Raskin added: “He could kill them, but he can't be impeached or convicted because he killed an opponent, and he can't be prosecuted because he wasn't impeached or convicted.” Now, of course, Trump's claims are completely ridiculous. No one in American history has even attempted such an absurd argument. But it shows just how outlandish and crazy Donald Trump's worldview is at the moment. And it's extremely dangerous because it all revolves around political violence. ”
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