re: SCOTUS isn’t going to mess with immunity

I’ll try one more time because what you and I responded to was the last snippet of the pertinent clause. Here’s the entire thing:

quote:

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Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit under the United States: but the party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment and punishment, according to law.

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The first part speaks of impeachment and that being impeached by, in and of itself only results in removal and disqualification from office (ie no criminal penalties for the impeachment itself-it’s a purely political mechanism). The key words from there are “but” and then “nevertheless be liable and subject to” because it means that the impeached party will not suffer criminal penalties as a result of the impeachment alone, but they (the party convicted of impeachment) “are still subject to “indictment, trial, criminal process, etc.”

All it’s saying is that being impeached doesn’t grant you immunity from prosecution. You can be impeached and prosecuted. You don’t have to be impeached to be prosecuted.