The U.S. Supreme Court gave former President Donald Trump a win in Trump v. United States, in which the majority ruled that a former president has absolute immunity for his core constitutional powers, and could not be prosecuted for his official acts while in office. The case was remanded back to the lower court that had ruled against Trump in a matter involving whether he tried to stop the 2020 presidential election results from being certified.
The indictment brought by special counsel Jack Smith alleged that after losing the election, Trump conspired to overturn it by spreading knowingly false claims of election fraud to obstruct the collecting, counting, and certifying of the election results. Trump moved to dismiss the indictment based on Presidential immunity, arguing that a President has absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for actions performed within the outer perimeter of his official responsibilities, and that the indictment’s allegations fell within the core of his official duties.
The District Court had denied Trump’s motion to dismiss, holding that former presidents do not possess federal criminal immunity for any acts. The D. C. Circuit affirmed that ruling. Both the District Court and the D. C. Circuit declined to decide whether the indicted conduct involved official acts.
“The President enjoys no immunity for his unofficial acts, and not everything the President does is official,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority opinion. “The President is not above the law. But Congress may not criminalize the President’s conduct in carrying out the responsibilities of the Executive Branch under the Constitution. And the system of separated powers designed by the Framers has always demanded an energetic, independent Executive.”
The ruling may delay the Jan. 6 case against the former president, who is charged by the Department of Justice for trying to subvert the election.
The vote was 6 to 3, with the three liberal women of the court voting against Trump, who had argued he was acting in his official capacity as the controversial 2020 election results were being finalized.
Special counsel Jack Smith was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland in November, 2022 to investigate whether “any person or entity unlawfully interfered with the transfer of power following the 2020 presidential election or the certification of the Electoral College vote held on or about January 6, 2021.” Smith is also in charge of the investigation involving classified documents and other presidential records at Mar-a-Lago, as well as the possible obstruction of that investigation.
A federal judge in May officially and indefinitely delayed Smith’s classified documents case against Trump.
This story will be updated as I read through the ruling.
