Jack Balkin, a professor of constitutional law at Yale, emailed his response to my queries:
Imagine a set of concentric circles of defense against presidential misbehavior. The first consists of the president’s own advisers, military officials, the Justice Department, and the civil service. The second circle of protection is the threat of impeachment and removal. The third is the threat of subsequent criminal prosecution after a president leaves office.
If Trump wins, the first two circles of defense will collapse, Balkin wrote, because Trump “will choose advisers who will not stand up to him” and “two failed attempts at impeachment and removal during Trump’s first term have demonstrated that impeachment is not a viable remedy for presidential misbehavior in a highly polarized environment.”
The Supreme Court’s decision in Trump v. United States, Balkin continued, “threatens to remove the third circle of protection because Trump can launder everything through discussions with his close subordinates, especially members of the Justice Department, and claim absolute immunity.”
Balkin’s concerns over the consequences of the immunity decision are widely shared.
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