{"id":787,"date":"2024-01-13T06:29:36","date_gmt":"2024-01-13T06:29:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aiecasia.org\/?page_id=787"},"modified":"2024-01-17T06:37:40","modified_gmt":"2024-01-17T06:37:40","slug":"politics_detail_3","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/aiecasia.org\/?page_id=787","title":{"rendered":"POLITICS_DETAIL_3"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\">POLITICS<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\"><strong>JANUARY 9, 2024<\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Most Absurd Moment From Trump\u2019s Make-or-Break Immunity Hearing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>An exchange that underscores the deeply authoritarian peril of Trump\u2019s campaign.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text is-stacked-on-mobile\" style=\"grid-template-columns:15% auto\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"60\" height=\"60\" src=\"https:\/\/aiecasia.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/ohinae-web100px.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-792 size-full\"\/><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<ul>\n<li>INAE OH<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Senior News and Engagement Editor<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"208\" height=\"117\" src=\"http:\/\/aiecasia.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Screen-Shot-2024-01-09-at-12.34.56-PM.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-599\" style=\"width:890px;height:auto\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><strong>Alex Brandon\/AP<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p><strong>Would a president<\/strong>&nbsp;who orders one of the country\u2019s most secretive and lethal military units to assassinate his political opponents be protected from criminal prosecution?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s the question at the heart of an alarming exchange during today\u2019s make-or-break hearing to decide whether Donald Trump should be immune from criminal prosecution over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. It arrived as all three judges in today\u2019s panel expressed skepticism over the claim by Trump\u2019s legal team that the ex-president is entitled to total immunity for his coup attempt\u2014an argument that, if successful, would effectively end the special counsel\u2019s election interference case before it goes to trial. But the response from Trump\u2019s lawyer only appears to have underscored the deeply authoritarian risk posed by Trump\u2019s reelection campaign. Here\u2019s the exchange:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cCould a president order SEAL Team Six to assassinate a political rival? That\u2019s an official act, an order to SEAL Team Six?\u201d Judge Florence Pan asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Trump lawyer John Sauer dithered, invoking the founding fathers and what they would intend in such a situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI asked you a yes or no question,\u201d Pan interrupted. \u201cCould a president who ordered SEAL Team Six to assassinate a political rival who was not impeached, would he be subject to criminal prosecution?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMy answer is qualified yes. There is a political process that would have to occur under the structure of our Constitution which would require impeachment and conviction by the Senate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s hard<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>to overstate the terrifying absurdity of the argument. Then again, this is the man who used his executive power to\u00a0pardon service members\u00a0who had been accused of war crimes. Though today\u2019s question was an extreme hypothetical\u2014a device often used by judges to test the logic of a legal argument\u2014the response by Trump\u2019s team was entirely consistent with what the former president has been openly running on. Trump has long teased plans to lock up his political enemies. He did it again just yesterday,\u00a0floating the idea\u00a0of having Joe Biden indicted if he returns to the White House.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As for wild authoritarian plans to use the military to kill his opponents, perhaps that would fit into his\u00a0one-day dictatorship.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Most Absurd Moment From Trump\u2019s Make-or-Break Immunity Hearing Would a president&nbsp;who orders one of the country\u2019s most secretive and lethal military units to assassinate his political opponents be protected from criminal prosecution?&nbsp; That\u2019s the question at the heart of an alarming exchange during today\u2019s make-or-break hearing to decide whether Donald Trump should be immune&hellip;&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/aiecasia.org\/?page_id=787\" class=\"\" rel=\"bookmark\">Read More &raquo;<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">POLITICS_DETAIL_3<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":436,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"off","neve_meta_content_width":70,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"on","_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"_ti_tpc_template_sync":false,"_ti_tpc_template_id":"","footnotes":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aiecasia.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/787"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aiecasia.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aiecasia.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aiecasia.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aiecasia.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=787"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/aiecasia.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/787\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":800,"href":"https:\/\/aiecasia.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/787\/revisions\/800"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aiecasia.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/436"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aiecasia.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=787"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}