Supreme Court Delivers Nuke To Jack Smith Case, Gives Trump IMMUNITY
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday vindicated President Trump, who has argued for more than three years he is immune from criminal prosecution stemming from his statements and actions surrounding the January 6th, 2021 riots at the Capitol.
In a 6-3 decision, justices found that the president enjoys constitutional protection from criminal prosecution related to all actions taken in an official capacity. Those would ostensibly include President Trump’s tweets in the days leading up to J6, which cast a pall over nation’s capital as a protestor was killed and several Capitol police officers died just days afterward. That immunity does not extend to unofficial acts, the court reasoned, leaving special counsel Jack Smith an opening to continue his two federal cases against Trump.
Trump Senior Advisor @AlinaHabba: It’s a good day when the Supreme Court recognizes the constitutional rights of presidents. It will slow down Jack Smith’s persecution & selective prosecution of President Trump, and I don’t see how this case could go forward before the election. pic.twitter.com/dLZntW4WDg
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) July 1, 2024
“The President enjoys no immunity for his unofficial acts, and not everything the President does is official. The President is not above the law. But Congress may not criminalize the President’s conduct in carrying out the responsibilities of the Executive Branch under the Constitution. And the system of separated powers designed by the Framers has always demanded an energetic, independent Executive. The President therefore may not be prosecuted for exercising his core constitutional powers, and he is entitled, at a minimum, to a presumptive immunity from prosecution for all his official acts. That immunity applies equally to all occupants of the Oval Office, regardless of politics, policy, or party,” the majority wrote according to the Post Millennial.
🚨BREAKING: Supreme Court rules Donald Trump is immune from criminal prosecution for official actions pic.twitter.com/RXNT2v31qg
— ALX 🇺🇸 (@alx) July 1, 2024
“The judgement of the Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit is vacated, and the case is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion,” the six-member majority added.
In April the court heard arguments from Trump’s attorneys stating that his actions involving classified documents and J6, both central to his two federal cases, were protected under presidential immunity. Smith, the Biden Justice Department prosecutor, countered that Trump was acting as a private citizen when he allegedly took classified documents from the White House for his own personal possession and when he encouraged supporters to storm the Capitol in an attempt to prevent Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 election.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, wrote in a dissent that the court’s majority ruling “makes a mockery of the principle, foundational to our Constitution and system of Government, that no man is above the law.”
