Post from Truth Social

David Rivkin, a highly respected Constitutional law scholar, just clearly stated that I have “Constitutionally-based immunity” and “absolute immunity!”

Video transcript 5:40

For more, I'm joined by constitutional attorney and former Justice Department official David Rifkin. Good to see you, David. Thanks for being here. So a local prosecutor, wasn't even a state prosecutor, a local prosecutor using racketeering charges against a former president, 18 others. The Wall Street Journal, by the way, editorialized this week, inflating it into a RICO conspiracy makes the case less credible, not more. Now, I know you agree with that. Explain why. It is a very broad-ranging charge. It's a charge that incorporates as predicate offenses, lots of exercises or First Amendment rights, including things like tweets. It's never been used in that way. Obviously, RICO is typically used in the context of real basic criminal conduct. But it's not just the substantive charges. I think that this is a very weak case that's going to die very quickly, at least as far as being prosecuted in Georgia courts. You do have attorneys for Mark Meadows, who is Trump's former chief of staff, who filed a motion a couple of days ago to have a case transferred to Federal District Court, which they entitled because of a statutory immunity for federal offices, which is the case, obviously, Mr. Meadows, as well as Mr. Clark, who was a DOJ attorney. So this case does not have, and it's not just, David, a transfer venue to a federal court. It is also an immunity to which they're both entitled. And as I've argued in an article for you a little while ago, President Trump has a constitutionally based immunity based upon the Supreme Court case, as called Nixon v. Fitzgerald, to give some absolute immunity for all the actions done within the outer perimeter of his constitutional duties, even if those actions were unlawful. So the Fulton County case is not going to hold. Yeah, I was just going to say, other than that, you think it's fine. But also, there's a guy named Rudy Giuliani, who's one of the co-defendants, a guy who became famous as a prosecutor using RICO. He knows RICO better than probably anybody in the United States right now. He knows, not only knows how to use it against somebody, but he's probably seen every defense against it imaginable. Who do you think is going to win that if it ever goes to court against him? The prosecutor, the local prosecutor, or Rudy Giuliani? I will put my money on Giuliani. But as I said, I do not think that this case would ever be litigated on the merits, given the immunity arguments, which I actually do not apply to defendants from Georgia. But I wanted to emphasize both of the viewers, despite the weakness of those cases, leaving aside all the political implications, polarization, the dual justice system, it's a horrible precedent. As you said in your introduction, we have a local district attorney, not even an AG, bringing cases, and it's particularly the case with Ms. Willis, that goes to the heart, however you feel about what Trump did, and people like Jeff Clark or Mark Meadows, that were essentially discharging the duties of their federal office. This is a horrible precedent for federalism, separation of powers, exercise of first amendment rights, and a variety of other things. These are truly toxic cases, and even though I think all of them, or most of them are going to die, that does not diminish the toxicity, so I find them quite regrettable. David, it's also a pile on, because basically a lot of the charges are the same ones that Jack Smith brought on a federal level, and they both get to the issue, both cases try to get into the mind of Donald Trump, deciding whether or not he knew or didn't know whether he was lying or wasn't lying about what happened in the election. There's so much supposition in these charges, and then the question of isn't a candidate allowed to contest an election? It's like, sorry, you're not allowed to have the free speech to either question it publicly or actually try to defend your case in court. Yes, it definitely criminalizes the rough and tumble of electioneering and battles over elections. It is going to be played out for other people down the road. It is highly regrettable. I cannot tell you how depressing I find it. And then, by the way, the question of what did Trump believe is irrelevant actually for immunity purposes, which is an objective test, and it goes to whether or not he was doing things that will then again were the sphere of his obvious constitutional responsibility. David, very quickly, I want to ask a question. If you could answer as quickly as possible on the Biden investigations that are going on. Special counsel David Weiss, he wasn't special counsel before last week, but he has been making claims about his independence this past week, about how independent he is. I'm just wondering, do you believe that he is completely independent from the Department of Justice? No, I don't for two reasons. First of all, you choose special counsel from outside department. Second, one of the things he should be investigating is what happened in the front end with this aborted plea, and he was the one who was involved in it. So how can it investigate himself? It's appalling. It's cynical and appalling. David Rifkin, good to see you, sir. Thank you very much.

Transcribed automatically. Expect errors in names and numbers.

0:00 0:00

AI Analysis

Machine-generated analysis of the post above on 2026-03-20. Not written by the author of the post.

Danger Level
Elevated
Narcissistic State
Mixed
Authorship
Uncertain
Intensity
42%

This post represents a compensatory grandiose pivot following the acute narcissistic injury of Trump's fourth criminal indictment. Operating from Bedminster on August 19, 2023, Trump amplifies a conservative cable commentator's legal opinion as if it constitutes definitive constitutional adjudication. Having expressed marked vulnerability in earlier same-day posts, this post executes the characteristic snap to grandiosity — reframing constitutional law as personal shield. The 'highly respected' front-load and dual immunity quotation are overdetermined supply-gathering mechanisms. Rivkin's contested advocacy opinion is distorted into established legal fact through strategic conflation of 'X argues' with 'I have.' Three defense mechanisms operate simultaneously: rationalization constructs logical cover for rejection of accountability; denial categorically asserts the charges cannot apply; distortion reshapes commentary into determination. The post is clinically unremarkable in isolation but sits within a threat ecology — Judge Chutkan had been threatened, Georgia grand jurors doxxed — where persistent prosecution-delegitimization rhetoric carries stochastic violence risk. Authorship is likely authentic: evening timing at Bedminster, reactive cable-news amplification format, and emotional punctuation pattern are characteristic. Cognitive baseline is undisturbed; no language production anomalies detected. The post is best understood as one node in a high-volume same-day Firehose volley — rapid-fire counter-narrative flooding in response to the Georgia indictment, executing the classic narcissistic injury → grandiose recovery oscillation at compressed speed.

Authorship Analysis
Uncertain
Indicators:
  • Evening post (7:33 PM EDT) at Bedminster - within plausible authentic window
  • Reactive cable-news amplification format typical of authentic Trump posts
  • Enthusiastic exclamation point appended after closing quotation mark - personal emotional punctuation layered onto borrowed content
  • Simple clause structure consistent with impulsive reactive posting
  • No event announcement or scheduling content that would suggest aide authorship
Psychological Profile
▶ State
Mixed State

Trigger: Narcissistic Injury — Exposure (Georgia RICO indictment (4th criminal indictment of 2023); August 25 surrender deadline; four simultaneous criminal cases)

Sentiment
+0.52
Mildly Hypomanic
Same-day posting cluster of 5+ posts within a compressed timeframe spanning golf, legal persecution, immunity vindication — rapid topic shifts with consistent emotional intensityExclamation mark appended personally after closing quotation mark signals elevated excitement/urgency disproportionate to the content (a TV commentary clip)Compensatory grandiose snap following vulnerability posts earlier same day — oscillation speed suggests elevated affective baseline
▶ Clinical
Malignant Narcissism:
Narcissistic
82%
Antisocial
48%
Paranoid
55%
Sadism
15%
Defense Mechanisms:
rationalizationdenialdistortion
Cognitive Complexity:
Complexity
28%
Parasocial Techniques:
Appeal to authority as proxy validation - commandeering expert credentialing for narcissistic supplyBreaking-news urgency frame ('just clearly stated') to make favorable commentary feel like a decisive eventDual quotation reinforcement - repeating immunity claim in two formulations to double the protective assertion for audience
Danger Assessment

Elevated

Indicators:
  • Post functions as a legitimacy-destruction mechanism within an active threat ecology: Judge Chutkan had already received death threats (August 5); Georgia grand jurors had been doxxed and were receiving harassment
  • Consistent prosecution-delegitimization rhetoric ('absolute immunity' = legal process has no valid authority over Trump) creates conditions where followers with violent dispositions receive reinforcement that prosecutors and judges are acting criminally
  • Pattern of prosecution-as-criminal-act framing across same-day posts (DOJ as 'Biden's Thugs,' 'Election Interference') provides stochastic terrorism preconditions: identified targets + articulated grievance + implied illegitimacy of the process
  • No direct call to action; danger is contextual and cumulative rather than post-specific
Gaslighting Detected:
  • Commentary-as-determination conflation: Rivkin's contested advocacy opinion presented as established legal fact via 'I have' rather than 'Rivkin argues I may have'
  • Epistemic closure enforcement: single favorable commentator presented to audience as definitive constitutional authority, foreclosing acknowledgment that the legal question is actively disputed
  • Reality revision: the phrase 'clearly stated' implies this is obvious and settled, when the immunity question was pending before multiple courts
Reality Distortions:
  • 'I have absolute immunity' — asserts as fact what was a pending, contested legal claim ultimately adjudicated against the absolute formulation by the Supreme Court
  • 'Clearly stated' — characterizes a disputed legal advocacy position as an obvious, clear determination
  • Implicit framing that one commentator's opinion constitutes constitutional determination
Fact Checks (3)
"David Rivkin is 'a highly respected Constitutional law scholar'"
Half True

Rivkin is a real attorney (Baker & Hostetler), WSJ contributor, and Fox News legal commentator. Respected in conservative legal circles. 'Highly respected' is accurate within partisan framing but is not a neutral characterization across the broader constitutional law scholarly community.

"Rivkin stated Trump has 'Constitutionally-based immunity'"
Mostly True

Rivkin did argue publicly and repeatedly that former presidents retain immunity for acts taken in office. His stating this in the attached video is plausible and consistent with his documented public positions.

"Trump has 'absolute immunity'"
Mostly False

As of August 2023, this was a contested legal argument, not established law. The Supreme Court's July 2024 ruling in Trump v. United States affirmed some immunity for official acts but explicitly rejected absolute immunity. Presenting this as a fact rather than an unresolved legal argument is misleading.

No contradictions with other posts detected yet.

Daily Digest Four Indictments Deep: A Day of DARVO, Fabricated Quotes, and a Quiet Threat to Prosecute His Way Back

Trump spent the day at his Bedminster golf club, but a leisurely Saturday it was not. Nearly every original post circled back to the Georgia indictment handed down five days earlier, with escalating anger through the afternoon. The morning brought attacks on DA Fani Willis and recycled claims about ...

Analyzed
17
Rage Level
37%
Max Danger
Elevated
View full day analysis →