Federal Appeals Court Judge Florence Pan appeared skeptical along with two other judge’s Tuesday about claims by Donald Trump for presidential immunity.
“I feel that as a president, you have to have immunity. Very simple,” said Trump, reported ABC News. “And if you don’t, as an example of this case, where loss of immunity, and I did nothing wrong, absolutely nothing wrong — I’m working for the country. And I worked very hard on voter fraud because we have to have free elections.”
Trump maintains the 2020 election was stolen from him despite no evidence of fraud occurring.
Pan pressed Trump’s attorney about how far they were willing to go with their presidential immunity arguments.
“I understand your position to be that a president is immune from criminal prosecution for any official act that he takes as president even if that action is taken for an unlawful or unconstitutional purpose, is that correct?” Pan said, according to NBC.
D. John Sauer replied that a president could only be prosecuted if he were impeached and convicted by the Senate first.
“You’re saying a president could sell pardons, could sell military secrets, could order SEAL Team Six to assassinate a political rival?” Pan said, reported ABC.
In 2022, Pan became the first Chinese American to serve on the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. She replaced Ketanji Brown Jackson after her confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court. She had previously served on the Superior Court and District Courts for 10 years in Washington, DC.
Born in New York City, her parents immigrated from Taiwan in 1961. She graduated from Stanford Law School where she served as editor of the Stanford Law Review. She earned her undergraduate degree from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
She was originally nominated to the District Court in 2016, but her nomination expired. President Biden renominated her in 2021. After she won confirmation, Biden nominated her the following year to the Court of Appeals.
AsAmNews is published by the non-profit, Asian American Media Inc.
We are supported through donations and such charitable organizations as the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. December 3 is Giving Tuesday. Will you consider a tax-deductible donation to Asian American Media Inc and AsAmNews?
Please follow us on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube and X.
