Robert Ray: Sotomayor’s Dissent Has Gotten ‘Way out of Hand,’ It’s ‘Nonsense’

PHILLIP: “Robert, presidents, are they above the law now?”
RAY: “No. They weren‘t before, they weren‘t under President Richard Nixon, and they are not after the Supreme Court‘s decision. Look, I would just caution everybody to, like, slow down the idea of using a dissent to try to figure out what the majority held here. I‘ve listened to this nonsense all day long today. It‘s gotten away out of hand.”
PHILLIP: “But do you think that Nixon would have been found to have done nothing wrong if this ruling were in place?”
RAY: “No. Look, here‘s some things that are clear. With regard to the president‘s core function, things like, for example, the Saturday night massacre, where Richard Nixon essentially fired the Justice Department or essentially tried to do so, the answer is, he has core presidential immunity for that. You cannot prosecute a president for that conduct any more than Bob Mueller could have prosecuted President Trump for firing the FBI director.”
PHILLIP: “What about ordering a government official to break into to the DNC headquarters?”
RAY: “That‘s different. A conspiracy, for example, during the Nixon era to create a slush fund using the Justice Department and the attorney general to pay off witnesses to obstruct justice — “
PHILLIP: “I mean, the Supreme Court just said that any interactions, that that would be official. Didn’t they say that?”
RAY: “You weren‘t listening. They said that that would be official action and that it is presumptively subject to immunity. That doesn‘t mean the presumption can’t be overcome. And just like the SEAL Team 6 example, the answer is, those matters would be subject to prosecution. Notwithstanding what Justice Sotomayor said, because that‘s not what the majority said.”