Former President Donald Trump declared victory Monday after the Supreme Court granted him partial immunity in his federal election interference case, though the case can still move forward since the justices determined he is not protected from criminal charges related to actions outside the scope of his official constitutional duties.
Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at the Historic Greenbrier Farms in Chesapeake, Virginia, on June 28, 2024. (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)
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Key Takeaways
- Trump called the ruling a “BIG WIN FOR OUR CONSTITUTION AND DEMOCRACY” in a Truth Social post, adding he’s “PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!”
- The court ruled 6-3, along partisan lines, to return the case to District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who will decide which charges can move forward under the guidelines set by the Supreme Court decision.
- Trump had claimed he was entitled to “absolute immunity” in the case, which charges him with three counts of conspiracy and one count of obstructing an official proceeding in connection with his efforts to overturn President Joe Biden’s 2020 win.
- Monday’s ruling is likely to delay the case past the November election, and if Trump wins, he could order the Justice Department to throw out the case.
Chief Critic
The Biden-Harris campaign blasted Trump in the wake of the ruling, but stopped short of contesting its merits, in a statement that accused Trump of having “snapped after he lost the 2020 election” and thinking “he’s above the law and is willing to do anything to gain and hold onto power for himself.” Trump, the statement said, “has only grown more unhinged” since Jan. 6.
Key Background
The conservative-majority court delivered a partial victory to Trump after Chutkan and the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit threw out Trump’s argument. In writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote “the president is not above the law,” but “may not be prosecuted for exercising his core constitutional powers” and “is entitled, at a minimum, to a presumptive immunity from prosecution for all his official acts.”
Justice Sonia Sotomayor, in a dissenting opinion, wrote that the decision “reshapes the institution of the presidency” and “makes a mockery of the principle, foundational to our Constitution and system of government, that no man is above the law.” Trump has also raised the immunity argument in his Georgia election interference case and his Manhattan hush money case, arguing that prosecutors in the Manhattan case could use statements he made while president against him. Trump has pleaded not guilty in the federal election interference case and repeatedly claimed without evidence it and all other cases against him are “witch hunts” brought in coordination with the Biden campaign to prevent him from being elected again.
What To Watch For
Chutkan must decide what charges can withstand the ruling by the Supreme Court, which determined conversations Trump had with former Vice President Mike Pence in which Trump is accused of pressuring Pence not to certify the election results constitute official acts. The court also ruled Trump is immune from prosecution related to directing the Justice Department to dispute the integrity of the election. Chutkan will also determine whether Trump’s alleged attempts to pressure state officials to contest the election results and his speech at the Capitol before the riots constituted official acts.
What We Don’t Know
How a separate ruling by the Supreme Court on Friday declaring that federal prosecutors improperly used an obstruction law to charge hundreds of accused Jan. 6 Capitol rioters will impact Trump’s case. The court, in a 6-3 decision, determined the law charging defendants with obstructing an “official proceeding” for storming the Capitol as Congress was certifying the results of the 2020 election can only be applied when defendants damaged physical evidence.
This article was first published on forbes.com and all figures are in USD.
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