With an aim to hold even the highest of officials accountable in the eyes of law, New York lawmakers have proposed the “No Citizen is Above the Law” legislation that would make it harder for anyone, even the President, to avoid state prosecution if accused of criminal wrongdoing.
As per the interpretation of the Constitution, a sitting president is immune from arrest or prosecution while in office. The US Supreme Court has never made a determination on the issue, but the current setting can be particularly troublesome, especially if the wrongdoing is severe and the statute of limitations expires once a president leaves office.
Introduced by Senator Michael Gianaris and Assemblyman Nick Perry, the bill will “toll” the statute of limitations in order to bring a case — meaning freezing or stopping the clock on the limitations period until the president leaves office. Gianaris said the bill, if signed into law, will apply to all future presidents, regardless of what party they belong to. It would apply to potential state criminal cases against a president.
Source: WAMC
With respect to the ongoing investigations on President Trump’s business dealings, Gianaris said, “Donald Trump is trying to run out the clock on all these investigations. We want to make sure he doesn’t succeed in escaping accountability because the clock on the statute of limitations has run out.”
As reported by the New York Post, Perry said, “Clearly the privileges of the Office of the president were not intended to make the holder of the office above the law, and was not intended to empower a president with the ability to thwart and sabotage an active, legitimate investigation as New York prosecutors have accused the president of doing.
Tolling the statute of limitations for the full period of a president’s tenure will ensure that if the president did participate in any of the numerous criminal activities alleged by his former counsel to have occurred, he like every other New York citizen will be held to account for all crimes against the people and state of New York.”
Source: New York State Assembly
Considering Democrats control both houses of the state Legislature — the Assembly and Senate — Trump claims that he’s the victim of a partisan “witch hunt” by New York prosecutors and Cuomo.
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