“Could a president order SEAL Team Six to assassinate a political rival? That’s an official act–an order to Seal Team Six,” U.S. Circuit Judge Florence Pan asked Sauer.
“He would have to be, and would speedily be, you know, impeached and convicted before the criminal prosecution,” Sauer replied, setting a pre-condition for such prosecution in Pan’s hypothetical.
I wonder if that's true. Would a congress controlled by the Republican party of today really follow through with impeachment for that? I'm sure such a president would have all kinds of excuses as to why they had to do it and how their rival was a threat to national security etc etc that their followers would take at face value.