US Supreme Court grants Trump substantial immunity from prosecution

Washington: The conservative judges on the US Supreme Court have granted Donald Trump substantial immunity from prosecution, in a stunning ruling that embattled President Joe Biden warned would further embolden his Republican rival to do as he pleases if he returns to power.

In a landmark 6-3 decision that Biden has used as a rallying cry to try to reset his re-election campaign after last week’s disastrous debate, America’s highest court has ruled that presidents and ex-presidents cannot be charged for things they do as part of their core duties, and are entitled to the presumption of immunity for all official acts.

A protester outside the Supreme Court in April as the justices heard arguments over whether Donald Trump is immune from prosecution.Credit: AP

While they can still be charged for their private conduct, Biden said the decision set a dangerous precedent for the country, which was “founded on the principle that there are no kings in America”.

Meanwhile, the three liberal justices of the court – Sonia Sotomayor, Ketanji Brown Jackson and Elena Kagan – all dissented, warning that the ruling could give Trump the power to assassinate rivals and order military coups in the future.

The ruling has also further delayed Trump’s trial for trying to overthrow the 2020 election. The Supreme Court sent the matter back to the US District Court to determine which of Trump’s actions were done in an official or unofficial capacity.

“The president of the United States is the most powerful person in the country, and possibly the world,” wrote Sotomayor on behalf of the three dissenting justices. “When he uses his official powers in any way, under the majority’s reasoning, he now will be insulated from criminal prosecution. Orders the Navy’s Seal Team 6 to assassinate a political rival? Immune. Organises a military coup to hold onto power? Immune. Takes a bribe in exchange for a pardon? Immune. Immune, immune, immune.

The justices of the US Supreme Court.Credit: AP

“Even if these nightmare scenarios never play out, and I pray they never do, the damage has been done. The relationship between the president and the people he serves has shifted irrevocably. In every use of official power, the president is now a king above the law.”

Biden, who has been under pressure to stand down since his poor performance in the first presidential debate last week, branded the move as yet another attack by the court’s conservative majority on longstanding democratic norms.

“No one is above the law, not even the president of the United States,” he said.

“The American people must decide if they want to entrust ... the presidency to Donald Trump, now knowing he’ll be more emboldened to do whatever he pleases, whenever he wants to do it.”

“Should the American people dissent? I dissent.”

However, Chief Justice John Roberts insisted in his ruling that “no president is above the law”, but their actions must not be criminalised when they are “carrying out the responsibilities of the executive branch under the Constitution”.

The Supreme Court ruling is a significant victory for Trump, whose lawyers have already asked a judge to delay his New York sentencing and want to set aside the guilty verdict in his hush money trial.

It also comes at a time when Biden’s bid for re-election has been thrown into doubt. Despite panic in some sections of the Democratic Party, Biden and his supporters say he does not intend to step aside and make way for another candidate.

Donald Trump’s supporters attack the US Capitol in an attempt to violently overthrow the election on January 6, 2021.Credit: Getty Images

“I’m scared as shit and I think Americans are scared – and should be scared – of what Donald Trump will do,” said his principal deputy campaign manager, Quentin Fulks.

“So I can reassure you that when you do see President Biden out on the trail, he will be talking about the reasons why Americans should be scared of Donald Trump, as he has been for months, and this Supreme Court opinion today just amplified that.”

The ruling comes 10 months after Special Counsel Jack Smith charged Trump for allegedly conspiring to overturn Biden’s election victory.

Credit: Matt Golding

This means that some things are now off-limits, such as certain interactions with Justice Department officials, including Trump’s threat to fire the then attorney-general, Jeffrey Rosen, in favour of a loyalist.

He is also “presumptively immune” from being prosecuted for interactions with his vice president, Mike Pence – whom Trump pressured to reject electoral votes – because discussions about vice-presidential responsibility were part of his job, the court found.

Other matters – such as his other attempts to stop the vote certification; his rally speech that led to rioters storming the Capitol and the plot to organise fake electors – will be up to the lower court to decide.

Trump turned to the Supreme Court – where he appointed three of the six conservative justices – after a federal district court and appeals court both ruled against him.

Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for the weekly What in the World newsletter here.