Members and Leadership Sign Amicus Brief in Trump v. US

Members and leadership of the Society signed this amicus brief in the matter of Donald J. Trump v. United States, addressing the former president’s claim of immunity from prosecution for criminal acts.

The brief argues “that a President does not have immunity to engage in unofficial or official acts that constitute federal statutory crimes that would overturn presidential election results.” It further argues that if the Court were to create such an immunity, as Mr. Trump urges, it would violate the separation of powers and embolden criminal acts by future Presidents aiming to subvert the Constitution and overturn election results.

Signatories on the brief include:

Former Members of Congress
Rod Chandler
Barbara Comstock
John Danforth
Mickey Edwards
David F. Emery
Jim Greenwood
John LeBoutillier
Claudine Schneider
Christopher Shays
Peter Smith
Dave Trott

Former Justice Department and White House Officials
Donald Ayer
John Bellinger III
Stuart M. Gerson
John Giraudo
David Hiller
Peter Keisler
J. Michael Luttig
John M. Mitnick
Gregg Nunziata
Carter Phillips
Alan Charles Raul
Jonathan Rose
Nicholas Rostow
Robert Shanks
Larry Thompson
Stanley Twardy
Wendell Willkie, II

Former Executive Branch Officials
Ambassador Jeff Bleich
Ambassador Judith Beth Cefkin
Thomas M. Countryman
Ambassador Cindy L. Courville, Ph.D.
Eric Edelman
Edward J. Larson
F. Whitten Peters
Trevor Potter
Paul Rosenzweig
Jack Thomas Tomarchio
Christine Todd Whitman

Retired Military
Rear Admiral Katharine L. Laughton, USN (Ret.)
Major General Randy Manner (Ret.)
Rear Admiral Michael Edward Smith, USN (Ret.)

Other
Richard Bernstein

Read the full brief here.