CNN political analyst John Avlon claimed Thursday that former President Donald Trump was “delaying justice” via his claims of immunity.
The Supreme Court asked Trump’s lawyers to respond to a request by special counsel Jack Smith to review an appeal of a district court ruling by judge Tanya Chutkan that rejected a motion by Trump’s attorneys to dismiss the charges Monday. The high court also agreed to hear a case surrounding the obstruction statute Smith charged Trump with violating.
“The moral implications, the constitutional implications are massive for our country. Because as you pointed out, you know, without accountability, an attempt to overturn an election, a slow motion coup is just practice,” Avlon told “CNN News Central” host John Berman. “It’s a green light, if there’s no accountability for this. And the implications down the line are striking, right? If the Supreme Court or a court should say that the president’s not criminally liable for anything he did when in office, well that’s a green light for authoritarian action for people when they’re president. They’re officially and permanently above the law, not just simply because of an Office of Legal Counsel opinion.”
WATCH:
Hundreds of people stormed the Capitol building during the certification of the electoral votes on Jan. 6, 2021. A Capitol Police officer shot and killed one of those who stormed the building. Over 1,000 people have been arrested for charges connected to the riot, according to Time.
Avlon claimed Attorney General Merrick Garland allowed the process to be delayed.
“I think Merrick Garland was motivated by desire to seem above politics, right, to try to not see the Justice Department perceived as being politicized, which it had been under Donald Trump,” Avlon said. “I think the difficulty now is that time is finite, and delay can be denial, and that’s what Donald Trump is — is predicated upon with his army of lawyers.”
Conservatives have accused the Justice Department of becoming politicized, citing the multiple indictments of former President Donald Trump, arrests of pro-life advocates and the FBI being sicced on parents protesting at school board meetings.
“I’m remembered of something truly chilling that Peter Thiel once said, which is, single digit millionaires can’t avail themselves of the legal system,” Avlon continued. “If very rich people could get a phalanx of lawyers to keep delaying justice and if they’re running for president perhaps evade it forever.”
Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Harold Hutchison on December 14, 2023
