Prosecutor Calls Trump Lawyer's Assassination Argument 'Frightening'

A federal prosecutor warned of an "extraordinarily frightening" scenario after a lawyer for Donald Trump argued that presidential immunities could cover political assassinations.

Former President Trump is currently indicted at the federal level for his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, which later led to the January 6 U.S. Capitol riot. Trump has previously pleaded not guilty to the charges in the case and is currently in the process of claiming sweeping immunity for actions undertaken while he was president.

The Washington, D.C., judge overseeing the case, Tanya Chutkan, previously ruled against the immunity claim, sending it up the chain for further appeals.

"Whatever immunities a sitting President may enjoy, the United States has only one Chief Executive at a time, and that position does not confer a lifelong 'get-out-of-jail-free' pass," Chutkan wrote in December.

After the Supreme Court declined to take the claim under consideration on an accelerated basis, the ruling went to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.

During an appeal hearing before the court on Tuesday, U.S. Circuit Judge Florence Pan pressed D. John Sauer, a lead attorney for Trump, about how far such immunities could extend.

"Could a president order SEAL Team Six to assassinate a political rival?" Pan asked. "That's an official act—an order to Seal Team Six."

"He would have to be, and would speedily be, you know, impeached and convicted before the criminal prosecution," Sauer said in response.

Pan then pressed for a concrete answer as to whether or not a former president could be criminally prosecuted for something like a political assassination if they were not impeached. Sauer said that they could, but only after being impeached and convicted. Trump was previously impeached twice by the House of Representatives, the second time for the events of January 6, 2021, but was not convicted either time in the Senate.

To this assertion, James Pearce, assistant to Special Counsel Jack Smith, said that such an allowance would be "frightening." Sauer, in turn, stood by his argument.

"That is an extraordinarily frightening future," Pearce said.

"That's not a frightening future," Sauer said. "That's our republic."

Newsweek reached out to the Department of Justice via email for comment.

Alongside Pan, the appeal is being overseen by Circuit Judges Karen Henderson and J. Michelle Childs. Earlier in the proceedings, Childs cast doubt on the court's ability to hear such an appeal, citing a Supreme Court ruling that held that an appeal before trial cannot be pursued unless it "rests upon an explicit statutory or constitutional guarantee that trial will not occur."