Donald Trump claims he had immunity, but Nixon received a pardon

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – If Donald Trump is right that presidents have immunity, then why did another former president, Richard Nixon, need one?

Trump was in a Washington, D.C., federal courtroom on Tuesday as his attorneys argued before an appeals court that the four-count indictment against him for 2020 election interference should be dismissed. Their position is that Trump, as president at the time, is immune from prosecution because he was carrying out official duties.

Special counsel Jack Smith, who is pressing the case against Trump on the four felonies, has stated that agreeing to Trump’s claims would “license presidents to commit crimes to remain in office.”

The case is historic because there is no legal precedent informing the court proceedings against a former U.S. president.

The lone pathway to guide the nation in this matter is the 1974 pardon of the 37th president, Nixon, over the Watergate scandal. The political firestorm surged from a break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in search of information that the Nixon 1972 reelection campaign could use against its opponent.

Nixon was implicated in White House audio recordings for leading and assisting a cover-up. When the details of the president’s involvement were made public, Nixon resigned as president to avoid being convicted and ousted in an impeachment trial in the U.S. Senate.