Trump’s Former Attorney Admits He Doesn’t ‘See the Courts Buying’ Presidential ‘Blanket Immunity’ Against Prosecution | Video

Tim Parlatore weighs in on the former president’s 14th Amendment cases in Colorado and Maine

Donald Trump’s former attorney Tim Parlatore joined “CNN This Morning” on Tuesday to weigh in on the former president’s legal challenges in Colorado and Maine, which have removed him from the 2024 primary ballot.

The state courts cited the 14th amendment in their decision, which in part determines individuals should not hold office if they have “engaged in insurrection or rebellion.” Considering Trump was impeached and ultimately acquitted on similar grounds, Parlatore weighed in on the likelihood of him being able to argue double jeopardy. 

Parlatore argued that because Congress already acted on Trump’s legal challenges by impeaching him after Jan. 6 for insurrection and was acquitted, “this case is in some ways already been litigated using the provisions of the 14th Amendment, Section 5 provided.”

“Could I ask you about the impeachment point?” anchor Phil Mattingly jumped in. “I was struck over the course of the last couple of days that there has been signal that the trump team is going to utilize that, maybe not just for Colorado, but also for the Jack Smith indictment on election subversion.”

Parlatore replied that his “personal belief on this is that while the impeachment does control regards to the 14th Amendment litigation, it does not invoke double jeopardy as to criminal litigation.”

The former Trump attorney continued, saying that he doesn’t believe that “double jeopardy” is “necessarily a winning argument” to prevent Jan. 6 prosecution, but that it will likely be “effective related to the 14th Amendment cases.” 

“Are we in unchartered legal territory, or is there an argument that Trump’s team can pull on to make their point?” Mattingly asked.

“It’s definitely unchartered territory,” Parlatore said. “I think that the idea of a blanket immunity is a little bit too broad and I don’t see the courts buying that.”

“A more limited, very targeted immunity for certain acts, that I do see as being something that could win,” the attorney continued. “But that’s not something that really can be litigated at this stage.”

“They would have to take this case to trial and show during the trial that what he was doing was within the scope of his duties as the chief executive,” Parlatore said. “If they make that argument credibly, then I think immunity could apply at that stage, but not here.” 

Watch the full “CNN This Morning” segment in the video above.

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