唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)的律师周三断言,总统可以在曼哈顿第五大道开枪打人,而不会被起诉,但纽约警察局表示绝对不是这样。
NYPD第一副专员本杰明·塔克在一次不相关的记者招待会周四。当记者问及如果特朗普开枪打人,警察部门是否会逮捕他时,塔克笑了起来。
“我们会的。我是说,就这么简单,”他说。
比尔·白思豪市长表示同意,并告诉媒体成员,“如果有人开枪打人,就会被逮捕。我不在乎他们是美国总统还是其他人。”
白思豪参加了2020年民主党初选,希望在大选中击败特朗普,但在持续约1%的投票后于9月退出。
“任何自称是律师的人,只要能说不应该是律师,我们就从这开始吧,”德·布拉西奥补充道。“但是如果你开枪打人,那就是犯罪,没有人能凌驾于法律之上。他会被逮捕的。”
周三,律师威廉·康索沃伊(William Consovoy)在联邦法院表示,总统豁免权将使特朗普在任职期间免受犯罪起诉,即使他要开枪杀人。康索沃伊是在接受美国第二巡回上诉法院法官询问时发表上述言论的,当时他正与曼哈顿地区检察官办公室发出的特朗普财务记录和纳税申报单传票进行斗争。
特朗普的法律团队认为,传票应该扔掉,因为任何担任美国总统的人在任职期间都“享有任何形式的刑事诉讼的绝对豁免权”。但是巡回法官丹尼·陈反驳了这一观点。
"你对第五大道的例子有什么看法?"秦问康索沃伊,指的是特朗普在2016年臭名昭著的竞选言论,即能够逃脱在著名的纽约街头开枪打人的惩罚。“地方当局不能调查吗?他们对此无能为力,”
康索沃伊回答说,总统只有在离任后才能被起诉,这是他对此事的官方立场。
竞选总统时,特朗普曾假设他可以射杀某人,不会失去任何支持者。
“我可以站在第五大道中间开枪打人,不会失去任何选民,好吗?特朗普在爱荷华州的一次活动中说:“这简直不可思议。当他说这句话时,他模仿用手指开枪。
10月23日,唐纳德·特朗普总统在白宫外接受媒体采访时,听取了一个问题。当天早些时候,他的一名律师在联邦法院表示,总统可能会犯罪,在任职期间不会被起诉。
NYPD WOULD ARREST TRUMP IF HE SHOT SOMEONE ON FIFTH AVENUE: 'IT'S AS SIMPLE AS THAT'
Donald Trump's lawyer asserted on Wednesday that the president could shoot someone on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue and not be prosecuted, but the New York Police Department said that is absolutely not the case.
NYPD First Deputy Commissioner Benjamin Tucker was pressed on the issue during an unrelated press conference on Thursday. Asked by a reporter if the police department would arrest Trump if he shot someone, Tucker began laughing.
"We would. I mean, it's as simple as that," he said.
Mayor Bill de Blasio agreed, telling members of the media that "if anybody shoots someone, they get arrested. I don't care if they're the president of the United States or anybody else."
De Blasio entered the 2020 Democratic primary race in hopes of taking on Trump in the general election but dropped out in September after consistently polling around 1 percent.
"Anyone who calls themselves a lawyer who can say that should not be a lawyer, let's start with that," de Blasio added. "But if you shoot someone, that's a crime, and no one is above the law. He would be arrested, period."
On Wednesday, attorney William Consovoy said in federal court that presidential immunity would spare Trump from prosecution for a crime while he is in office, even if he were to shoot someone. Consovoy made the remarks while being questioned by judges in the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, where he was fighting a subpoena by the Manhattan district attorney's office for Trump's financial records and tax returns.
Trump's legal team has argued that the subpoena should be thrown out because anyone who serves as president of the United States "enjoys absolute immunity from criminal process of any kind" while in office. But Circuit Judge Denny Chin pushed back on that argument.
"What is your view on the Fifth Avenue example?" Chin asked Consovoy, referring to Trump's infamous 2016 campaign remark about being able to get away with shooting someone on the famous New York City street. "The local authorities couldn't investigate? They couldn't do anything about it?"
Consovoy replied that the president could only be prosecuted once he left office and that was his official position on the matter.
While running for president, Trump had hypothesized that he could shoot someone and not lose any of his supporters.
"I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and wouldn't lose any voters, OK? It's, like, incredible," Trump said during an event in Iowa. When he made the remark, he mimicked firing a gun with his fingers.
President Donald Trump listens to a question while speaking to members of the media outside of the White House on October 23. Earlier that day, one of his attorneys said in federal court that a president could commit a crime and not be prosecuted while in office.