When Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts said during his confirmation hearing that “no one is above the law in our system and that includes the president,” it was considered uncontroversial, a truism that Americans had long taken for granted and which represented a core tenant of the American justice system.
[NOTE: Alexander Hamilton, in the Federalist Papers No. 69 in 1788, wrote: “The President of the United States would be liable to be impeached, tried, and, upon conviction of treason, bribery, or other high crimes or misdemeanors, removed from office; and would afterwards be liable to prosecution and punishment in the ordinary course of law.”]
Republicans currently organized to prevent a second Donald Trump term as president are currently circulating Chief Justice Roberts’ two-decades old statement in the wake of the SCOTUS decision to grant presidents immunity from prosecution for “official” acts.
Chief Justice John Roberts at his confirmation hearing: “No one is above the law under our system and that includes the president. The president is fully bound by the law.” (Sept. 2005) pic.twitter.com/DzxIXOJotW
— Republican Voters Against Trump (@AccountableGOP) July 1, 2024
Nominated by George W. Bush, Roberts said (see above) at his confirmation hearing in 2005: “No one is above the law under our system and that includes the president. The president is fully bound by the law.”
Nominated by Trump, Justice Neil Gorsuch said essentially the same thing under oath in 2017. The clip below is also being pushed by the Republicans against Trump.
Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch: “Nobody is above the law in this country, and that includes the president of the United States.” (March 2017) https://t.co/ZTVaqzFQkI pic.twitter.com/Dw0S8kjt8m
— Republican Voters Against Trump (@AccountableGOP) July 2, 2024
A year later, Justice Brett Kavanaugh issued a similar statement, differentiating a president from a king or despot: “Under the Constitution, the president is not above the law. No one is above the law…The president remains subject to the law.”
Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in September 2018:
“Under the Constitution, the president is not above the law. No one is above the law…The president remains subject to the law.” pic.twitter.com/wx6VcHr4VV
— Republican Voters Against Trump (@AccountableGOP) July 1, 2024
The concerned Republicans excoriating the Supreme Court’s seminal gift of power to the executive branch are concerned about countless scenarios. The most famous is the hypothetical where a president orders SEAL Team 6 to assassinate a political rival, which the immunity decision appears to make not legal, but also not punishable.
Yet there are more untenable, Republic-threatening scenarios that potentially derive from the contingent protections of the president’s communications with the Justice Department. One, expressed below, is a voting booth manipulation that renders democracy moot.
SCOTUS hypo: a president orders his Attorney General to seize the voting machines and destroy all the votes for his opponent. Under new Court decision
conversations with DOJ and president are absolutely immune as core presidential actions. So is this just as off limits as what…
— Andrew Weissmann (weissmann11 on Threads) (@AWeissmann_) July 2, 2024