The United States Supreme Court on Monday issued a ruling asserting that former President Donald Trump is shielded from federal prosecution for official actions conducted during his presidency.
The U.S. apex court held that the country’s constitution granted Presidents full immunity on criminal charges based on their official constitutional acts.
The ruling came after Trump had approached the Supreme Court arguing his immunity claim after two lower courts denied his request for protection from federal criminal charges alleging he schemed to overturn the 2020 presidential results.
Trump in the lawsuit argued that he could not be prosecuted for actions he took while still in office. His legal team also argues that former presidents cannot be tried in a court of law unless they are first impeached by the U.S. House and convicted by the Senate.
It would be recalled that a federal grand jury had accused Trump of knowingly spreading falsehoods to his supporters, plotting with co-conspirators to overturn results in seven states and eventually working his base into a frenzy that culminated in a violent attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, the day Congress was to certify electoral votes.
However, ruling on the matter, the Supreme Court In a 6-3 opinion held that former presidents have immunity from charges stemming from their time in power.
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. in his ruling wrote that the president can only be subject to criminal prosecution for unofficial acts, “like everyone else.”
Roberts wrote: “But unlike anyone else, the President is a branch of government, and the Constitution vests in him sweeping powers and duties,” Roberts wrote. “Accounting for that reality—and ensuring that the President may exercise those powers forcefully, as the Framers anticipated he would—does not place him above the law; it preserves the basic structure of the Constitution.”
The Supreme Court also held that Trump’s conversations with Department of Justice officials regarding the election results were official but left unanswered questions about other conduct named in Department of Justice special counsel Jack’s Smith indictment of Trump.
“Certain allegations—such as those involving Trump’s discussions with the Acting Attorney General—are readily categorized in light of the nature of the President’s official relationship to the office held by that individual,” the opinion reads. “Other allegations— such as those involving Trump’s interactions with the Vice President, state officials, and certain private parties, and his comments to the general public—present more difficult questions.”
With the ruling, the Supreme Court has sent sending Trump’s case back to the lower courts.
The trial court must now grapple with whether Trump’s alleged conduct to spread false information about the 2020 election results and conspiring to overturn them qualified as official presidential action.
