Organizes a military coup to hold onto power?
Takes a bribe in exchange for a pardon?
Immune, immune, immune, she said.
© Getty/Andrew Caballero-Reynolds
Is any of this true, though?
Hasnt the Court handed the President a license to drone his enemies with only the flimsiest of pretexts?
We asked some legal experts about this absurd hypothetical scenario and the result was…not super comforting.
Indeed, everyone seemed to have a slightly different opinion.
This policy remains in place.
Nothing, said Rogg.
As weve long maintained, the U.S. program of lethal force abroad outside recognized war zones is unlawful.
The ACLU was one of the organizations that originally sued the government over al Awlakis killing.
But she still thinks were talking about a highly improbable scenario because the President needs accomplices.
He may be immunized, but whoever carries out the order is not.
But couldnt the President order a killing and then pardon everybody involved?
Well, he could certainly try, said Gotein.
Assassinating a political rival would violate the Constitution, Gotein claimed.
However, the President might still have presumptive immunity for that activity, she added.
I think that principle is not only misguided but dangerous, for the rule of law and for democracy.
There are a lot of gray areas.
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