The Trump immunity case is easy. The Supreme Court shouldn't make it hard.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

It would seem to go without saying that the president, tasked with faithfully executing the laws of the United States, cannot also violate any one of those laws without fear of criminal prosecution after leaving office. Nonetheless, the Supreme Court decided this question is serious enough as it relates to Donald Trump that it must deliver an answer, rather than leaving the matter to the lower courts to state the obvious. Yet Trump v. United States is an easy case; the justices should not belabor the issue more than they already have.

Thursday’s oral argument in the case revolved around whether Mr. Trump can claim absolute immunity for his conduct while president, including for the alleged crimes in Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith’s election fraud case. Thankfully, most of the justices appeared skeptical that the president may avoid prosecution for any action he takes on the job.

From there, however, things got complicated. Assuming a president can be prosecuted for private or personal conduct — committing perjury to cover up an affair, say — can he be prosecuted for official conduct? What even counts as “official”? The court decided in Nixon v. Fitzgerald that ex-presidents have immunity from civil suits for anything within the “outer perimeter” of their duties. This generous standard enables the commander in chief to do the job without fear of countless frivolous lawsuits.

There are more guards against frivolous prosecutions than frivolous lawsuits, so the level of protection the executive needs from post-presidency criminal proceedings should be correspondingly lower — though, most of the justices seemed persuaded, not nonexistent. Even the Justice Department concedes that presidents can’t be criminally liable for certain “core conduct” listed in Article II of the Constitution. The justices contemplated President Barack Obama being dragged before judge and jury for conducting a drone strike against a terrorist.

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https://wapo.st/4a9PptD

This is a gifted article.