Former Ambassador Nikki Haley responded to a Trump legal professional’s protection of his immunity from authorized costs as president as “ridiculous” over the last GOP presidential debate earlier than the Iowa caucuses.
“Do you agree with the argument Donald Trump’s lawyer made in court docket {that a} president ought to have immunity for any conduct, together with in ordering the assassination of a political rival until that president is impeached and convicted by the Senate for that offense first?” CNN’s Jake Tapper requested Haley throughout a debate on Wednesday night time.
“No, that is ridiculous,” Haley responded. “That is completely ridiculous. I imply, we have to use some frequent sense right here. You possibly can’t go and kill a political rival after which declare, you already know, immunity from a president. I believe we have now to start out doing issues which can be proper and you already know Ron stated we must always have leaders that we will look as much as. Effectively, then cease mendacity, as a result of no one’s going to wish to look as much as you for those who’re mendacity.“
Haley continued, “However what I do suppose we have to have a look at is what has President Trump accomplished? You have a look at the previous couple of years and our nation is totally divided. It is divided over extremes. It is divided over hatred. It is divided over the truth that individuals suppose that if somebody does not agree with you that they are unhealthy. And now we have now leaders in our nation that determine who’s good and who’s unhealthy, who’s proper, and who’s incorrect, that is not what a pacesetter does. What a pacesetter does is they carry out one of the best in individuals and get them to see the best way ahead.“
HALEY, DESANTIS FIRE SHOTS AT TRUMP IN HEAD-TO-HEAD DEBATE: ‘HE DID NOT DELIVER’
Republican presidential candidate and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley greets voters at a city corridor occasion in New Hampshire on April 26, 2023, in Bedford, New Hampshire. ((Picture by Spencer Platt/Getty Photos))
The query from Tapper to Haley was in reference to a remark from Trump lawyer D. John Sauer this week in a Washington D.C. courtroom the place he answered with a “certified sure” when requested if Trump’s immunity from prosecution as president would apply if Trump “ordered S.E.A.L. Crew 6 to assassinate a political rival.”
“He must be impeached and convicted,” Sauer argued.
JUDGE JUDY ENDORSES NIKKI HALEY FOR PRESIDENT: ‘SHE IS WHIP SMART…SHE IS THE FUTURE’
Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to a crowd throughout a marketing campaign rally on September 25, 2023 in Summerville, South Carolina. (Sean Rayford/Getty Photos)
Sauer stated, “There is a political course of that must happen below the construction of our Structure which might require conviction and impeachment by the Senate in these distinctive circumstances, because the OLC memo itself factors out from the Division of Justice you’d anticipate a speedy impeachment and conviction.”
Sauer argued earlier than a federal appeals court docket Tuesday that the president has “absolute immunity,” even after leaving workplace — an argument that the judges gave the impression to be skeptical of.
Decide Karen Henderson, an appointee of former President George H.W. Bush, fired again, saying: “I believe it’s paradoxical to say that his constitutional responsibility to take care that the legal guidelines be faithfully executed permits him to violate legal regulation.”
However Sauer argued that Biden, “the present incumbent of the presidency is prosecuting his primary political opponent and his best electoral menace.”
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Jack Smith, US particular counsel, speaks throughout a information convention in Washington, DC, US, on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023. (Al Drago/Bloomberg by way of Getty Photos)
In the meantime, Particular Counsel Jack Smith’s crew argued that presidents will not be entitled to absolute immunity and that Trump’s alleged actions following the November 2020 election fall outdoors a president’s official job duties.
“The president has a singular constitutional position however he’s not above the regulation. Separation of powers rules, constitutional textual content, historical past, precedent and immunity doctrines all level to the conclusion {that a} former president enjoys no immunity from prosecution,” prosecutor James Pearce stated, including {that a} case during which a former president is alleged to have sought to overturn an election “shouldn’t be the place to acknowledge some novel type of immunity.”
Fox Information Digital reached out to the Trump marketing campaign for remark however didn’t instantly obtain a response.
Fox Information Digital’s Brooke Singman contributed to this report
