Trump may enjoy immunity in the trial against him

The US Supreme Court ruled today (Monday) that President Trump may enjoy immunity in the case Attempt to bias the 2020 election and his involvement in the break into the Capitol on January 6, 2021. The decision on the actual granting of immunity will be made by a lower court, and the ruling is expected to delay the trial and make it difficult for the prosecution to convict the Republican candidate, but will not stop the trial.The court ruled in principle that presidents have immunity for “official” acts they perform during their term of office, and that they do not have immunity for “unofficial” acts. The Supreme Court added that not all acts performed by a president during his term of office are “official”, and that the president is not above the law. The judges reached a decision with a majority of 6 supporters from among the conservative camp, including 3 judges appointed by Trump himself, against 3 judges from the liberal camp.

The meaning of the ruling is that the lower court presiding over Trump’s trial is the one who will decide which of Trump’s actions are “official” acts, and accordingly it will be determined which of the actions attributed to Trump are subject to immunity. However, in its decision, the Supreme Court stated that it is easy to classify some of the actions attributed to Trump as “official”, while some of the actions attributed to him “raise more difficult questions”. The court also ruled that “official” acts cannot even be used as evidence in a trial against a president, which makes it even more difficult to convict Trump.

 

Trump himself welcomed the ruling, calling it a “big victory” on his social network. “A great victory for the constitution and democracy. Proud to be an American,” wrote the former president. The ruling is expected to postpone Trump’s trial until after the election, and he will have the power to drop the charges against him if he is elected president.

President Biden’s campaign said that the Supreme Court’s ruling “doesn’t change the facts.” A senior adviser to the campaign told CNN that “Trump was broken after he lost the 2020 election and he encouraged a mob to try to reverse the results of the election. He thinks he is above the law and is willing to do anything to win power.”

“An attempt to change the results of the elections”

The court discussed Trump’s claim that he claimed to have “presidential immunity” that protects him from the four serious charges against him, since the actions he performed in an attempt to change the outcome of the election were part of his “duties as president”, and therefore, according to him, he should not be held criminally responsible. On the other hand, the prosecution claimed that the immunity would make the president “above the law”.

According to the indictment filed against Trump by special prosecutor Jack Smith, he “used improper means in order to invalidate legitimate votes and change the election results.” The trial focuses on the former president’s attempt to prevent the replacement of his administration after he lost the election to President Joe Biden. His efforts included attempts to spread false claims about election fraud and pressure government officials, including former Vice President Mike Pence, to overturn the election results. According to the indictment, these efforts led to the break-in at the Capitol on January 6.

Two additional trials are being conducted against Trump, in which he is accused of storing classified documents in his home and trying to hide it, and thus of trying to bias the results of the 2020 elections in the state of Georgia. In addition, the former president was convicted in the hush money case for porn actress Stormy Daniels.