The Supreme Court ruled today that Donald Trump may be able to claim limited immunity from criminal prosecution for some of the actions toward the end of his presidency that is argued to have contributed to inciting the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol. As a result, a trial on the federal election subversion charges he faces has been further delayed.
Monday’s 6-3 decision rejects a ruling from a federal appeals court in February that found Trump enjoyed no immunity for alleged crimes he committed during his presidency to reverse the 2020 election turnout. According to the Supreme Court’s ruling, presidents have immunity for official acts but not all acts are official, and lower courts must decide which motions qualify for each.
The court’s six conservative justices were in the majority while its three left-leaning justices dissented.
Special Counsel Jack Smith’s election subversion case will likely still proceed as Smith has long expressed that he feels could continue the case based on unofficial actions. Considering this, the trial could make it to lower courts by this year if Smith narrows his indictment.
However, there would be much for the lower courts to sort out on what constitutes an official act versus a private one. Additionally, the Supreme Court’s majority emphasized that official acts cannot be used as evidence in a potential trial, which could make it more challenging for Smith to prove Trump’s motive, as Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that lower courts may not look into a former president’s motive.
Due to the immunity ruling, Trump will likely not face court before the November election for charges relating to his role in attempting to reverse the election result in 2020, but the district judge will have to hold an evidentiary meeting, CNN’s legal analyst Ellie Honig said.
The former president also faces a sentencing hearing next week in his hush money case after being found guilty on 34 counts.
Despite the Supreme Court ruling Trump may have immunity, it easily rejected his suggestion that he couldn’t be prosecuted criminally because he was not impeached and convicted by Congress.
Trump’s trial had been scheduled to start on March 4 before the delays over the immunity issue, and now, there is no trial date set. The former president made his immunity claim to the trial judge in October, meaning the issue has been litigated for about nine months.
