Donald Trump’s lawyer argued in an appeals court hearing Tuesday that he should be immune from criminal prosecution for his actions while in office unless Congress had already impeached and convicted him first.
But his attorney ran into an immediate issue.
Trump’s impeachment lawyers once made the exact opposite argument — a discrepancy two of the appellate judges picked up on.
Specifically, when Trump was impeached over the Capitol riot in 2021, his lawyers drilled down on one key point: a former president shouldn’t face impeachment proceedings; he should face the courts.
It’s a rationale that many Republicans — including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell — used when voting to acquit Trump.
“We have a criminal justice system in this country. We have civil litigation. And former presidents are not immune from being held accountable by either one,” McConnell said on the Senate floor in 2021.
Now, Trump is facing those courtsin the criminal election interference case brought by Special Counsel Jack …