WASHINGTON: The US Supreme Court for the first time on Monday (Jul 1) recognised that ex-presidents have immunity from prosecution for certain actions taken in office, as it threw out a judicial decision rejecting Donald Trump's bid to shield himself from criminal charges involving his efforts to undo his 2020...
WASHINGTON: The US Supreme Court for the first time on Monday recognised that ex-presidents have immunity from prosecution for certain actions taken in office, as it threw out a judicial decision rejecting Donald Trump 's bid to shield himself from criminal charges involving his efforts to undo his 2020 election loss.
The decision came in Trump's appeal of a lower court ruling rejecting his immunity claim. The court decided the case on the last day of its term. During Apr 25 arguments in the case, Trump's legal team urged the justices to fully shield former presidents from criminal charges -"absolute immunity" - for official acts taken in office. Without immunity, Trump's lawyer said, sitting presidents would face"blackmail and extortion" by political rivals due to the threat of future prosecution.. Smith's election subversion charges embody one of the four criminal cases Trump has faced.
During the arguments, justices asked hypothetical questions involving a president selling nuclear secrets, taking a bribe or ordering a coup or political assassination. If such actions were official conduct, Trump's lawyer argued, a former president could be charged only if first impeached by the House of Representatives and convicted in the Senate - something that has never happened in US history.
The timeline of the court's immunity ruling likely does not leave enough time for Smith to try Trump on federal election subversion charges and for a jury to reach a verdict before voters head to the polls.
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