The Supreme Court’s decision, expected by around the end of June, could have an impact on some of the charges brought against Trump.
An overview of the immunity question:
- Trump’s delaying tactics:
The fact that the Supreme Court is even addressing the issue of immunity is already a success for Trump. In doing so, he achieved that the criminal trial in a federal court in Washington was suspended, which concerns the massive interventions with which he wanted to tilt the outcome of the 2020 election in his favor, as well as his role in the storming of the Capitol in January 2021 . This process was supposed to start on March 4th. There is no new date as the highest court decision on immunity is awaited.
The Republican Trump, who wants to run again against the Democrat Joe Biden in the November election, is relying on delaying tactics in his legal disputes. In doing so, he wants to ensure that the start of the trials or at least the verdicts are delayed until after the election.
Also read: Loss of control: Trump sees the procedure itself as a punishment (OÖNplus)
However, the judge in Trump’s New York trial on a hush money affair was unimpressed by the immunity request and allowed the legal proceedings to begin last week. However, this case is considered the least serious of the four criminal charges against Trump.
In the case before the Georgia state judiciary, which also involves allegations of election manipulation, the public prosecutor’s office has requested that the trial begin on August 5th. However, this case could also be influenced by the immunity decision, as could the federal judiciary’s indictment against Trump for taking secret government documents to his private estate in Florida. Here too, it is unclear when the process could start.
- The arguments for and against immunity:
In Trump’s opinion, US presidents should be protected from criminal prosecution for almost all of their official actions – during their term in office and afterwards. The presidency cannot maintain its “vital independence” if the incumbent is threatened with criminal prosecution after leaving office, he argues.
Trump is citing a 1982 Supreme Court ruling called “Nixon v. Fitzgerald.” It states that the president is protected from liability for civil damages resulting from his official actions. Trump wants to see this ruling expanded from civil to criminal law.
More on the topic: The crash in Trump shares is depriving many supporters of their savings (OÖNplus)
A key point in the dispute is whether Trump’s handling of the 2020 election results was part of his official actions, as the ex-president argues. This is disputed by special investigator Jack Smith, who sees it as a private approach.
In Trump’s opinion, the prosecution of an ex-president is only permissible if he has been found guilty of the same accusation by the US Senate in a so-called impeachment process. The right-wing populist was acquitted of the charges related to the storming of the Capitol by the Chamber of Congress in February 2021 – shortly after he left office.
The lower courts had rejected Trump’s claims of immunity. In February, a federal appeals court said: “We cannot accept that the Office of the President forever places its former occupants above the law.”
- The possible consequences of the Supreme Court decision:
With the case, the Supreme Court is breaking new ground. The US Constitution makes no statements about presidential immunity, and the Supreme Court has never ruled on the prosecution of a US president – which is because Trump is the first criminally charged ex-US president in history.
There is a clear majority of conservative judges on the Supreme Court, three of whom Trump himself nominated. However, this by no means guarantees him success. Experts believe it is unlikely that the constitutional judges will grant him and therefore all presidents “absolute immunity”.
It is possible that the Supreme Court will make a nuanced decision and find that some presidential acts are protected from prosecution and others are not. The Supreme Court could delegate the delimitation in Trump’s case to a lower court.
However, this would also be a success for him – the expected new presidential candidate would have gained more time. It is expected that when Trump returns to the White House, he would instruct the federal judiciary to drop the charges against him.
