Donald Trump’s Bid For Absolute Immunity Likely To Fail After Court Arguments

A three-judge panel for the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals appeared unanimous in rejecting former President Donald Trump’s argument that presidents have “absolute immunity” from criminal prosecution for any acts taken in office unless they are impeached and convicted, following arguments on Tuesday.

The appeals court sat in judgment over Trump’s appeal to dismiss the four felony charges brought against him by special counsel Jack Smith for his actions leading up to the Jan. 6 insurrection.

The court largely addressed Trump’s two main arguments: presidents have “absolute immunity” from all criminal prosecution for official acts taken in office, and presidents may only ever be prosecuted if first impeached in the House and convicted in the Senate. No president has ever been impeached and convicted.

The appeals panel consisted of two Biden appointees, Judges Florence Pan and Michelle Fields, and one George H.W. Bush appointee, Judge Karen Henderson. All three of the judges appeared skeptical of the arguments made by Trump’s defense lawyer, D. John Sauer.

But the true absurdity of Trump’s argument quickly became clear as Pan forced Sauer to take the former president’s argument to its logical conclusion.

More than 30 rabbis and rabbinical students staged a protest at the United Nations on Tuesday morning, calling for a cease-fire in Gaza as Palestinian authorities say the death toll from the U.S.-backed Israeli invasion of the territory approaches 23,000. The rabbis, who gained access to the building as part of a guided tour, entered the United Nations Security Council Chamber, where they recited prayers and chanted their support for a cease-fire. HuffPost embedded with the group and observed the protest.

A Jeffrey Epstein accuser is speaking out about past claims she made that the late pedophile kept video footage of his various friends having sex at his home, saying it’s absolutely true and that she only recanted her story years ago out of fear following threats. “It’s no secret that everything was recorded,” Sarah Ransome, who settled a civil suit with Epstein and his madam Ghislaine Maxwell in 2018, told “Good Morning Britain” on Tuesday. “Multiple victims have come forward confirming my account, along with others. I have also seen recordings in his office.”

Former U.S. Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn says the danger of another Jan. 6-type event occurring is very real, and that is why he has been compelled to trade in his uniform and run for Congress. “It exposed how fragile this democracy is, how willing elected officials in the MAGA world are to lie, downplay and pretend what we went through wasn’t real,” Dunn told HuffPost in an interview on Monday after the third anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. “Frankly, I believe it can happen again,” he warned.

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