A bipartisan group of 25 former prosecutors, government officials, preeminent scholars and experts in constitutional law, including Donald B. Ayer, Stuart M. Gerson, Claudine Schneider, Barbara S. Gillers, Stephen Gillers, Brian Frosh, Judge George Grasso and former Governors William Weld and Christine Todd Whitman have filed an amicus brief with the United States Supreme Court in President-elect Trump’s New York election interference criminal case. In the filing, the amici, who have collectively spent decades defending the Constitution, the interest of the American people, and the rule of law, argue there is no presidential immunity in the case or other legal basis that would justify delaying tomorrow’s sentencing. Further, delaying the sentencing in the case would subvert the rule of law by elevating Trump as a private citizen above the law. The full brief can be found at this link.
The filing is in response to Trump’s request for an emergency stay to avoid sentencing after being convicted by a jury of his peers for 34 separate felonies under New York criminal law.
The brief was prepared by Jon Greenbaum of State Democracy Defenders Action and Katherine Keating, Eric Rieder, Thomas Schell, Glenn B. Coleman and Elizabeth J. Goldberg of Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner on behalf of the amici listed below:
Donald B. Ayer, Deputy Attorney General in the George H.W. Bush Administration from 1989 to 1990.
Ty Cobb, Special Counsel to the President in the Trump Administration from 2017 to 2018.
Tom Coleman, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives (R-MO) from 1976 to 1993.
Barbara Comstock, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives (R-VA) from 2015 to 2019.
Mickey Edwards, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives (R-OK) from 1977 to 1993.
John Farmer Jr., New Jersey Attorney General from 1999 to 2002 (R).
Brian Frosh, Maryland Attorney General from 2015 to 2023 (D).
Stuart M. Gerson, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division in the George H.W. Bush Administration from 1989 to 1993 and Acting United States Attorney General in the Clinton Administration in 1993.
Barbara S. Gillers, Chair of the American Bar Association Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility from 2017 to 2020.
Stephen Gillers, Elihu Root Professor Emeritus at New York University School of Law.
George Grasso, Judge for the New York City Criminal Court from 2010 to 2022.
William Kristol, Chief of Staff to Vice President Dan Quayle from 1989 to 1993.
Philip Allen Lacovara, Counsel to the Special Prosecutor, Watergate Special Prosecutor’s Office from 1973 to 1974.
John McKay, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington in the George W. Bush Administration from 2001 to 2007.
Trevor Potter, Chairman of the Federal Election Commission and Commissioner of the Federal Election Commission from 1991 to 1995.
Alan Chares Raul, Associate Counsel to the President from 1986 to 1988.
Jonathan C. Rose, Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Policy from 1981 to 1984 and Special Assistant to the President from 1971 to 1972.
Claudine Schneider, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives (R-RI) from 1981 to 1991.
Peter M. Shane, Jacob E. Davis and Jacob E. Davis II Chair in Law Emeritus at The Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law and Attorney-Adviser in the Office of Legal Counsel from 1979 to 1981.
Christopher Shays, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives (R-CT) from 1987 to 2009.
Olivia Troye, Special Advisor, Homeland Security and Counterterrorism to Vice President Mike Pence from 2018 to 2020.
Stanley A. Twardy, Jr., United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut in the Reagan and George H.W Bush Administrations from 1985 to 1991.
William F. Weld, Governor of Massachusetts from 1991 to 1997 (R).Christine Todd Whitman, Governor of New Jersey from 1994 to 2001 (R) and Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency from 2001 to 2003.
State Democracy Defenders Action brings together a nonpartisan team to work with national, state and local allies across the country committed to upholding the rule of law, fighting against autocracy and defending the Constitution.