Thread: Donald Trump : Former POTUS

Supreme Court

Trump – Not full immunity

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Kyle Cheney - BREAKING: Donald Trump is immune from criminal charges for official actions but NOT unofficial acts.: https://twitter.com/kyledcheney/stat...83490743910708

https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinion...3-939_e2pg.pdf

Trump is immune from prosecution for some acts in federal election case

Donald Trump has immunity from criminal prosecution over some actions he took as president while fighting to subvert the 2020 election, the Supreme Court ruled Monday, further complicating efforts to put Trump on trial in Washington on criminal charges that he engaged in fraud to try to cling to power.

The decision, which divided the court along ideological lines, immediately knocked out some of the central allegations that special counsel Jack Smith leveled against Trump, including claims that he attempted to weaponize his Justice Department to concoct or amplify false claims of voter fraud.

However, the opinion also leaves much unresolved, sending the case back to the trial court for further proceedings. There, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan must now sift through the allegations to separate Trump’s official acts — those he took in his capacity as president — from private ones, when he was acting as a presidential candidate. That process could further stall the case by months and is likely to push any trial past Election Day.

The opinion from Chief Justice John Roberts declared that former presidents have “absolute” immunity from criminal prosecution over actions that fall within their “core constitutional powers.”

“There is no immunity,” Roberts wrote, for “unofficial acts.”

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Supreme Court rules Trump has immunity for "official acts"

The Supreme Court on Monday ruled that presidents have immunity for "official acts," but punted to lower courts the question of whether former President Trump's alleged conduct in his Jan. 6 case was protected.

Why it matters: The 6-3 decision, though not a sweeping victory for Trump, all but guarantees that his Jan. 6 case won't go to trial before this year's presidential election.

• The Supreme Court had delayed its ruling until Monday, the last day of its current term.

Driving the news: A former president is entitled to "absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for actions within his conclusive and preclusive constitutional authority," Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority opinion.

• The former president is entitled to "presumptive immunity" for other official acts but "no immunity for unofficial acts," he added.
• It is now up to U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan — who is overseeing Trump's Jan. 6 case — to determine whether the acts Trump is accused of in the indictment are "official" or not.

The other side: The court's three liberal-leaning justices condemned the majority's ruling.

• "Let the President violate the law, let him exploit the trappings of his office for personal gain, let him use his official power for evil ends ... That is the majority's message today," Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in her dissent.
• "The relationship between the President and the people he serves has shifted irrevocably. In every use of official power, the President is now a king above the law," she added.

What they're saying: Trump celebrated the ruling in a Truth Social post Monday, calling it a "big win for our constitution and democracy."

• A senior Biden campaign adviser told Axios that the ruling "doesn't change the facts" about Trump's actions around Jan. 6.
• Trump "thinks he's above the law and is willing to do anything to gain and hold onto power for himself," they added.

The big picture: The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in April over Trump's argument that ex-presidents cannot be prosecuted for crimes committed while in office.

• Trump's team has argued that his actions before the 2020 presidential election were within the "outer perimeter" of the president's official duties.
• They also argued that if Trump is not granted blanket immunity, future presidents may be restricted in how they lead out of fear of criminal prosecution after leaving the White House.

Zoom in: The nation's high court appeared poised during the arguments to rule that former presidents have some immunity, but not the "absolute immunity" that Trump is seeking, Axios' Sam Baker reported.

• The trial had originally been scheduled to take place earlier this year, but was postponed indefinitely.

State of play: Trump, who was convicted on 34 felony counts in his New York hush money trial in May, has repeatedly sought to delay his three other criminal cases.

• If he wins back the White House in November, he could order the Justice Department to drop his federal charges.

Go deeper: Trump's trial trap: Voters to be his most important jury