There will be NO blanket immunity protection for ex-President….
BUT?
It seems that the court HAS shielded some of Trump’s ‘private’ interaction’s….
They say executive department communication IS ‘immune’….
Trump has labeled the decision as a “Win’…..
The case goes back to the Federal Trial judge on the Justice Dept criminal case…….
The immediate reaction for law experts is that the court gave a vague definition of ‘official acts’ that helps Donald Trump vs the Justice Dept.’s effort to hold him responsible for the Federal crimes charges on the electoral vote certification…
The case was dropped in judge Chechen’s lap…..
Time is what Trump wanted and seemed to get……
Chief Judge Roberts was defensive in his this reading…
Some judges in the High Court are NOT happy with others in this call…
Justice Sotomayor gave her contrary views on the decision loud and clear…
David Becker, an election law expert and the executive director of the nonprofit Center for Election Innovation and Research, called the breadth of immunity granted to Trump “incredibly broad” and “deeply disturbing.”
“Almost anything that a president does with the executive branch is characterized as an official act,” he said on a call with reporters following the ruling. “I think putting aside this particular prosecution, for any unscrupulous individual holding the seat of the Oval Office who might lose an election, the way I read this opinion is it could be a road map for them seeking to stay in power.”
Becker said even historic scandals such as Watergate could be seen differently given the ruling.
“It’s likely that Gerald Ford did not need to pardon Richard Nixon under the interpretation of presidential immunity that this court enunciates today,” he said.
Becker lamented the time the Supreme Court took with the ruling, saying Americans had an interest in knowing the result sooner given Trump’s candidacy in the upcoming presidential election.
One area of the indictment that the court’s conservative majority said was especially off-limits for prosecution was Trump’s communications with the Justice Department.
The indictment alleges that Trump demanded that the Justice Department investigate alleged voter fraud and actively contemplated installing as acting attorney general a loyalist who would pursue his baseless claims of election misconduct.
But the justices said those interactions clearly and indisputably fall within the realm of a president’s official duties.
…
The majority also found that the immunity they recognized extends to the “outer perimeter” of the president’s official responsibilities, setting what appears to be a high bar for determining what conduct could potentially be prosecuted.
“In dividing official from unofficial conduct, courts may not inquire into the president’s motives,” Roberts wrote. “Nor may courts deem an action unofficial merely because it allegedly violates a generally applicable law.”
The opinion found Trump is “absolutely immune” from prosecution for alleged conduct involving discussions with the Justice Department.
Trump is also “at least presumptively immune” from allegations that he tried to pressure Pence to reject certification of the vote, Roberts wrote.
The majority did reject Trump’s arguments that the indictment should be dismissed, and that impeachment is a necessary step in the enforcement of the law…..
…
Fucking scary! Maybe putting all these Uber Right Wing Catholics on the Court wasn’t great for our Republic huh?
Sotomayer says essentially there IS a ‘carve out’ FOR Trump?
The media talking heads WILL calm down after a while and Chechen WILL do her thing…..
The court IS gonna take it on the chin….
Kathie Phang @ MSNBC correctly points out that the DOJ case does include charges for Trump actions AFTER Jan. 20…..
The DOJ case will still go on one assumes….
Since so many Democrats are “Biden or nobody” above the good of the country even, this is good news personally for Biden and family. It will be much harder (appropriately so) to prosecute him for his official actions as President, once Trump is back in office.
He, he, he…..
I guess so….
This site is nothing but james and CG–two men no one else listens to–yammering back and forth.
I’ve got work to do saving our Democracy. See ya.
Yup on comments that would be right…...
But people do tune in here and on twitter……
Probably about 400 each day…….
But NOBODY kept us want to comment……
334 views from 270 followers on the site, and 167 followers on Twitter…..
Not Great….
But not tooooo shabby either….
But I’d SURE like to have more back and forth comments….
Yes indeed…..
And NOT crazy assed ones the filters catch…..
Rep. Joe Morelle (D-N.Y.) said Monday he will introduce a constitutional amendment to reverse the Supreme Court ruling issued Monday, which largely shields former presidents from criminal prosecution for actions in office.
“I will introduce a constitutional amendment to reverse SCOTUS’ harmful decision and ensure that no president is above the law. This amendment will do what SCOTUS failed to do—prioritize our democracy,” Morelle wrote on the social platform X….
More…
This ain’t going ANYWHERE……
The bottom line is that there will be no Trump trials before Election Day. In theory, the judge in New York can sentence Trump to prison or some kind of confinement later this month, and he can be there before the election. Some right-wingers are insisting after the debate, that this will definitely be done. I do not think it will, but if it did, it would definitely help Trump politically.
If Trump is reelected, all of his legal problems will go away. All of them. He will likely then engage in more and more crimes as President with no accountability. Democrats seem resigned to letting Trump beat them. It’s clearly not a big deal to them since they are fine with going down with the Biden ship. They will look forward to being the angry opposition and the 2026 midterms. That is where we are at.
Trump COULD still go trial in Ga…..
Trump COULD LOSE a NY Appeal….
Leaving him a convicted felon AS President….
Trump would STILL owe hundreds of millions in Civil judgement penalties…..
That’s not how it works. If he is President again, he is basically free to be a dictator, besides for the risk of Impeachment,and we all know how that goes.
He is not going to be sentenced to prison in NY, especially as President of the United States. He is not going to pay any civil judgments. Are they going to come to arrest him as President, when he is acting in his official duties.
The one way to hold Trump accountable is to defeat him in the election. Unless things change (and I think they probably will when this is more clear), Democrats are resigned to letting Trump beat Biden. That is why they are sending out emails saying “look, all these other Democrats would lose too!”
Damn CG?
He’d be President FOR LIFE and COULD set SEAL Team 6 out to liquidate Democrats and Republicans that HE declared ‘enemies of Trump?’….
Shit?
Why wait for the Election?
I’m going to wait a fee days for the dust to settle…..
This ruling does NOT STOP criminal actions against Donald Trump who IS a Convicted Felon ALREADY….
You will join those in the Trump group who WIULL try to sell the High Courts call as something it is NOT….
I do not claim to be a Constitutional expert. I think the Court may very well be right in the abstract on these matters related to official duties, but it seems sort of scary, as it relates specifically to Trump or anyone who might come along after who will abuse their power. Political reality is that both political parties are tribes who will not accordingly in regards to Impeachment.
I think we already knew that the Jack Smith stuff was not going to trial before Election Day. A week ago, it looked like Trump was maybe a slight favorite to be reelected and beat all of this, but after the debate, it is hard to see Trump as anything other than a solid favorite.
I would love to be wrong on that, but I just don’t see how Biden makes things better for himself. They either replace him or lose.
This is of course putting aside what should be an obvious issue for the country and that is that Biden cannot expected to serve effectively as President for another four and a half years. “Father Time” cannot be defeated. His entire reelection campaign is a fraud and an insult to America. But we were going along with it, even someone like me, because Trump is so bad.
Now that Justice Kavanaugh has ruled that President Biden could have her sent to Gitmo as an official act I wonder if Susan Collins is “concerned”?
Biden to speak tonight at 7:45 EST (likely via teleprompter.) I assume he will be announcing the deployment of Seal Team Six.
Yo CG?!
I’m going to wait for the DOJ announcement that the Trump DC trial WILL proceed…..
Of course it is going to proceed, but it has likely been hamstrung now in regards to the evidence and charges. The pre-trial stuff will drag on for months.
And again, if Trump is elected President in a few months, he will never have to step inside a courtroom again.
His next DOJ will be truly scary. Are Democrats really going to throw in the towel on this election because they believe Biden is the *only* person who can beat Trump, as Jill is saying.
If the judge actually wants a speeding trial like the rules say?
Hmmmmmm?
No matter
Trump IS a convicted felon that owes &850M or so in civil fines
Biden has EVERYBODY on his case to get his sit together
And i have this feeling that a LOT of people gonna come out and vote for him
James F Love IV @Twitter
If the President of the United States orders an illegal act, any person carrying out that illegal order, including members of the military, are subject to prosecution.
Member’s of the US Military CAN refuse illegal orders