Expert: Trump case, like Watergate 50 years ago, should move quickly

Newswise — Donald Trump’s attorneys are arguing that the former president is immune from criminal prosecution for actions he took during his time in office. According to Donald Nieman, a professor and expert on U.S. legal history at Binghamton University, State University of New York, the case is reminiscent of the Richard Nixon/Watergate scandal. That case moved quickly due to its national importance, and Trump’s should as well.

“I am not the only one who believes the Trump case is of similar – if not greater – importance to democracy," says Nieman.

Richard Nixon claimed that all of his conversations during his term in office were confidential and could not be subpoenaed into evidence by a court. The Supreme Court moved quickly, and accepted, heard and decided Nixon’s claim within two months. So far the Trump case has taken much longer.

“No Supreme Court has decided this question, nor has any of its rulings said definitively what counts as an official act and what does not. Numerous commentators have called on the justices to decide the case rapidly. But to the justices, and to me as a scholar of American politics and law, perhaps no commentator is as persuasive as the Supreme Court itself – in particular, in a ruling from 50 years ago.”