Who Are the Lawyers Arguing in the Trump Immunity Hearing? – The New York Times
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Arguing for the special counsel: James I. Pearce, a career federal prosecutor who played a role in some Jan. 6 cases; and for former President Donald Trump, D. John Sauer, a former solicitor general of Missouri.
The two lawyers who will be squaring off in court on Tuesday to debate the issue of whether former President Donald J. Trump is immune to charges of trying to overturn the 2020 election both have experience in high-profile appeals, but they come from different sides of the legal aisle.
Arguing the case on behalf of the special counsel, Jack Smith, will be James I. Pearce, a career federal prosecutor who has worked in both the Justice Department’s public integrity section and in the appellate section of its criminal division. Mr. Pearce has taken part not only in several sensitive legal battles that Mr. Smith has waged during the prosecution of Mr. Trump on the election interference charges, but he has also played a crucial role in supporting the cases against hundreds of rioters who attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
It was Mr. Pearce, for instance, who argued the government’s side at countless hearings in Federal District Court in Washington when riot defendants sought the dismissal of an obstruction charge that is central to the Jan. 6 prosecutions. Mr. Pearce also argued in favor of the charge in front of the same federal appeals court he is appearing before today.
Last month, the Supreme Court said it would consider the scope of the obstruction law, and Mr. Pearce is likely to play a role in defending it in front of the nine justices as well.
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