James Myers of OAN
Monday, July 1, 2024 8:33 AM
The Supreme Court ruled Monday that former President Donald Trump enjoys “absolute” immunity from prosecution for his “official duties” while in office, but left the full scope of that protection to be determined by lower courts.
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The 6-3 ruling voided an earlier ruling by a federal judge in Washington and paved the way for further appeals by Trump’s legal team, which could delay a trial date in the 2020 election lawsuit against Trump for months or even years.
“The President does not enjoy immunity from criminal liability for non-official acts, and not all of his acts are official,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority opinion. “The President is not above the law, but Congress cannot criminalize the President’s acts in carrying out executive responsibilities under the Constitution.”
“Thus, the president cannot be prosecuted for the exercise of core constitutional powers and, at a minimum, the president enjoys presumptive immunity from prosecution for all official acts,” Roberts added. “This immunity applies equally to all staff members of the Oval Office, regardless of politics, policy, or party affiliation.”
Trump’s lawyers have sought to halt the case against the 45 people entirely, using a legal theory of blanket protection from prosecution for any actions committed while in office.Number president.
The former president is criminally charged with “misleading the United States through fraud, deception and deception,” disrupting the electoral vote process, “obstructing Congress’s proceedings on January 6th to count and certify the results of the presidential election,” and engaging in acts “in violation of the right to vote and to have that vote counted.”
The former president’s lawyers argued that his “official conduct” was protected by his job, but special counsel Jack Smith argued they were still subject to criminal prosecution.
The ruling follows a ruling last year by U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan rejecting Trump’s “immunity” theory, a ruling that was upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in February.
Justice Chutkan adjourned the case pending an appeal to the Supreme Court.
During a debate in the circuit court, Judge Florence Pan posed a hypothetical scenario in which a president who orders SEAL Team Six to assassinate a political opponent is not impeached, and asked, “Would he be subject to criminal prosecution?”
Trump’s lawyers responded by arguing that the president must first be impeached and convicted, saying immunity applies to presidential actions but not to personal actions.
Moreover, Sauer argued that such immunity is protected by the Constitution, which gives executive power to the president, and the Executive Power Clause.
The Supreme Court’s decision came four months before Election Day, when Trump hopes to retake the White House, and gives him the power to block the prosecution from proceeding.
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