Trump Submits First Reply to Farcical, Fascist Fake Impeachment Charges

LOLGF.

The former president makes a few extremely salient arguments against the Democrats' impeachment article. In addition to the claim that the Senate cannot convict a former president on impeachment, Trump argues that the Democrats violated his free speech and due process rights in rushing to impeach him and that the article of impeachment is deceptively drafted in an unfair manner. Trump also claims that disqualifying him from office would constitute a "bill of attainder," which has been broadly interpreted to mean a legislative act against a class of people that inflcits punishment on them without a judicial trial.

His first response claims that the impeachment power does not apply to him because he is no longer president. "The constitutional provision requires that a person actually hold office to be impeached. Since the 45th President is no longer 'President,' the clause ‘shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for...' is impossible for the Senate to accomplish, and thus the current proceeding before the Senate is void ab initio as a legal nullity that runs patently contrary to the plain language of the Constitution."

Trump also argues that the Constitution does not allow the Senate to disqualify a president from future office unless that president has first been removed from office due to impeachment. "Since removal from office by the Senate of the President is a condition precedent which must occur before, and jointly with, 'disqualification' to hold future office, the fact that the Senate presently is unable to remove from office the 45th President whose term has expired, means that Averment 1 is therefore irrelevant to any matter before the Senate."

...

While the article of impeachment condemns Trump's statements challenging the 2020 election results as "false," Trump defends those statements. He claims he exercised his First Amendment right "to express his belief that the election results were suspect, since with very few exceptions, under the convenient guise of Covid-19 pandemic 'safeguards' states election laws and procedures were changed by local politicians or judges without the necessary approvals from state legislatures."

...

"Insufficient evidence exists upon which a reasonable jurist could conclude that the 45th President's statements were accurate or not, and he therefore denies they were false," Trump argues. "Like all Americans, the 45th President is protected by the First Amendment..... t[T]he Constitution and Bill of Rights, specifically and intentionally protect unpopular speech from government retaliation" (emphasis added).

Read the whole thing.

That's a good point. The fact that Trump is -- was -- president does not mean that the Constitution is suddenly toggled to the "off" position making it legal to criminalize speech and opinions.

But they have to claim this kind of bullshit, because Trump never said anything that would be constitutionally unprotected, like "Let's burn this down."

That's what the antifa agent provocateur said repeatedly in his own video-- and he's already been released without bail.

Update: Some of his lawyers quit due to his insistence on defending his election claims.

Lawyers are now refusing to represent clients based on politics and social pressure from the Ruling Class.

America is dead.

posted by Ace at 03:51 PM

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