The stark question was posed to Trump’s attorney John Sauer by Judge Florence Pan: Was a president immune from prosecution for any unlawful act, at all? Could a president order his political rivals to be assassinated by Seal Team 6 as an official act? Could he sell pardons at his pleasure if he saw fit and then face no consequences for his actions?
“He would have to be impeached and convicted first,” Sauer replied,
If he has to be impeached and convicted by the Senate then his lawyers would argue that he can’t be prosecuted afterward because of the double jeopardy clause. This would completely nullify the constitution and the United States of America would cease to exist as we know it. That’s the Republican endgame.
Putting aside the whole Republican duplicity thing, I don’t think this is double jeopardy.
Impeachment is, in essence, a political procedure to remove someone from office. There doesn’t need to even be a crime (see Biden’s impeachment for an example).
So assuming for a moment that a president was impeached, that trial is to remove him from office, not to try him for a crime.
And even then, impeachment trials are civil where there is no jeopardy.
My point is not about the merits of the argument