Conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas poked holes in special prosecutor Jack Smith’s theory that Trump is the first president to face criminal charges because former presidents have never committed crimes.
The Supreme Court on Thursday heard oral arguments on Trump’s presidential immunity claim in Jack Smith’s January 6 case in DC.
Jack Smith’s prosecutor Michael Dreeben went before the Supreme Court on Thursday and argued presidents do not have immunity for their official acts conducted during their time in the White House.
Dreeben further argued that no former president besides Trump has ever committed crimes.
In response to Dreeben’s argument, Justice Clarence Thomas stated, “Over the not-so-distant past … certain presidents had engaged in various activities, coups or operations like Operation Mongoose when I was a teenager, and yet there were no prosecutions.”
Operation Mongoose was a CIA covert operation that was authorized under President Dwight Eisenhower and continued under the Kennedy administration.
Under the operation, the CIA conducted terrorist attacks against Cuban civilians and attempted several assassination attempts against Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.
WATCH:
Clarence Thomas just asked Jack Smith’s attorney why previous presidents haven’t been prosecuted for Coups and other operations–names Operation Mongoose, where JFK authorized the CIA to carry out terrorist attacks against Cuban civilians pic.twitter.com/msDDdEW4ai
— johnny maga (@_johnnymaga) April 25, 2024
Per The Daily Caller:
The lawyer representing special counsel Jack Smith on Thursday asserted that the reason former President Donald Trump is the first president to face criminal charges is because his predecessors did not commit any crimes.
Department of Justice counselor to Smith, Michael Dreeben, went before the Supreme Court to argue presidents should not have constitutional immunity from prosecution for official acts conducted during their presidency. Dreeben suggested that no president until Trump has ever committed crimes when Supreme Court Justice
“Over the not-so-distant past … certain presidents have engaged in various activity, coups or operations like Operation Mongoose, when I was a teenager, and yet there were no prosecutions,” Thomas said. “Why? If what you’re saying is right, it would seem that would have been ripe for criminal prosecution of someone.”
“So Justice Thomas, I think this is a central question,” Dreeben responded. “The reason why there have not been prior criminal prosecutions is that there were not crimes.”
The covert operation by the CIA received backlash from Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy after he discovered the CIA hired a member of the Italian mafia to assassinate Castro.
Other sinister plans by the CIA discovered by Robert F. Kennedy included the CIA’s plan to bomb areas of Miami where Cuban refugees were living.
JFK Files: CIA Plotted To Kill Castro, Stage Bombings In Miami https://t.co/8YIDYafWbM pic.twitter.com/UIRUfXuAiA
— Chuck Woolery (@chuckwoolery) October 27, 2017
In October 1962, after AG Robert Kennedy reported his findings to President Kennedy, he suspended Operation Mongoose after it offered little success.
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