Trump makes new plea for immunity ahead of Supreme Court case

Former President Trump made a new plea for presidential immunity Saturday in a Truth Social post, ahead of arguments at the Supreme Court next week on his immunity claim in his federal election interference case.

“IF IMMUNITY IS NOT GRANTED TO A PRESIDENT, EVERY PRESIDENT THAT LEAVES OFFICE WILL BE IMMEDIATELY INDICTED BY THE OPPOSING PARTY,” the former president posted on his Truth Social account Saturday morning. “WITHOUT COMPLETE IMMUNITY, A PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO PROPERLY FUNCTION!”

The post comes after a judge in a separate case Trump faces said earlier this week he could not attend the oral arguments over his presidential immunity claim at the Supreme Court.

The New York judge overseeing the former president's hush money case has made a move blocking Trump from attending next Thursday's arguments at the Supreme Court, since New York state law does not allow a defendant to skip any part of their trial unless they receive express permission from the judge to do so.

More than a dozen retired four-star generals, admirals and other former military leaders filed a Supreme Court amicus brief earlier this month in which they stated their opposition to the former president’s immunity claims in criminal cases. In the brief, the group of former military leaders said Trump’s claims “would threaten the military’s role in American society, our nation’s constitutional order, and our national security.”

“The notion of such immunity, both as a general matter, and also specifically in the context of the potential negation of election results, threatens to jeopardize our nation’s security and international leadership,” the brief reads. “Particularly in times like the present, when anti-democratic, authoritarian regimes are on the rise worldwide, such a threat is intolerable and dangerous.”