Does anyone know if the statue of limitations for Trump's crimes ---i.e., obstruction of justice---

[Atticus]

"tolled" during the time he was "in office" and supposedly could not be prosecuted?

[True Dough]

1. The answer appears in a thread posted just a few minutes earlier than yours, Atticus

"In case anyone's curious, the statute of limitations for federal obstruction of justice is five years. Trump fired Comey four and a half years ago."

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100216119200

[Ocelot II]

2. Most federal crimes have a statute of limitations of five years.

As far as I know the statutes would not be tolled while he was in office, and so would have to be prosecuted within five years of their commission (maybe discovery for some).

[WHITT]

3. Actually

the statute of limitations is INDEED tolled while Donnie was in office.

Plenty of time.

[Ocelot II]

4. Actually, no. There is a doctrine of equitable tolling but it's not clear

whether it would apply to crimes committed by a president while in office. https://www.lawfareblog.com/equitable-tolling-and-prosecution-president

[WHITT]

11. Well

Neal Katyal, the former Acting Solicitor General during the Obama administration, wrote the regulations regarding Special Counsels in place at the DOJ. He stated the statute of limitations is tolled while in office. This was added as a counter-weight to the practice that a POTUS cannot be prosecuted while in office.

[Ocelot II]

13. I love Katyal but his opinion doesn't have the force of law.

I hope it’s tested but until then we can’t assume the statutes will toll

[WHITT]

15. Sorry

It's not his opinion.

HE WROTE THE CURRENT REGULATIONS IN PLACE AT THE DOJ.

Got it?

[Ocelot II]

17. Katyal helped draft the special counsel rules in about 1999.

Katyal is of the opinion that statutes of limitations should be tolled for the duration of a presidency and there is a bill in Congress to that effect, but it is not established as the law. The special counsel regulations he wrote state that a special counsel (which has not been appointed) “shall comply with the rules, regulations, procedures, practices and policies of the Department of Justice.” This would include the policy memo from the Office of Special Counsel stating that a president can't be indicted while in office.

The OLC memorandum acknowledges that neither the text nor the history of the Constitution provides a definitive basis for determining whether a president can be prosecuted while still in office, and that the Supreme Court has never ruled on the issue. The constitutional analysis in the memo is a balancing test that considers whether “the burdens imposed by indictment and criminal prosecution on the president’s ability to perform his constitutionally assigned functions … are justified by an overriding need to promote legitimate government objectives," which include “an important national interest in ensuring that no person – including the president – is above the law.” If a president is immune from prosecution while in office, and can't be prosecuted after leaving office because the statute of limitations for his crime has run, then effectively the president would be above the law. The memo also states that there is an effective alternative to prosecution, which is impeachment. If that fails, the only recourse is prosecution; that is to say that prosecution of a sitting president is permissible when impeachment becomes an ineffective means of holding him accountable. By implication, then, since the special counsel rules Katyal wrote hold that a special counsel is bound by the OLC memo, which implies in turn that if impeachment fails a president should be prosecutable, a statute of limitations should not be a bar to prosecuting a president after his term expires.

It's a reasonable interpretation, but neither the special counsel rules nor the OLC memo mention whether statutes of limitations can be tolled to in order to allow a former president to be prosecuted. And it's based on the special counsel rules, which are not in effect because no special counsel has been appointed and it's not clear that one will be.

[WHITT]

18. GEEZ

Katyal helped draft the special counsel rules in about 1999.

I'm well aware, and he in reality wrote them.

Katyal is of the opinion that statutes of limitations should be tolled for the duration of a presidency and there is a bill in Congress to that effect, but it is not established as the law.

Neither is the standard that a sitting POTUS can't be prosecuted.

This would include the policy memo from the Office of Special Counsel stating that a president can't be indicted while in office.

Technically, they can be indicted, the standard is they cannot be prosecuted.

it's based on the special counsel rules

Actually, it's IN ADDITION to the Special Counsel rules.

[Claustrum]

10. I think it isn't tolled.

I remember one of the reason given in 2020 to beat Trump is that the statue of limitation would run out if he wins a second term.

[BlackSkimmer]

5. Statute. nt

[PSPS]

6. Statue of Limitations

[True Dough]

8. Leave it to Seinfeld

to have broached this common error so comedically.

[BlackSkimmer]

9. Lol!

I still remember my sister asking me (years ago) where she could get a “note of republic.”

[Fiendish Thingy]

7. Typically five years, however, if obstruction was ongoing, could be longer.

So, the SOL for the campaign finance violations (hush money) appears to have expired (some have argued that it hasn’t), but the SOL for ongoing acts of obstruction and conspiracy have not expired.

Note: IANAL

[ForgedCrank]

12. Trump is over and done.

I wish we could stop talking about that ass. I just want it to go away.

[iemanja]

14. So do I

but the ahole will be running in 2024, if he is still alive.

[ForgedCrank]

16. Even prison isn't enough.

The absolute worst you can do to Donald Trump is stop paying attention to him. That will crush him worse than anything else we could do.