The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) has delivered its landmark ruling in the immunity case for former President Donald Trump. Based on SCOTUS' ruling, Donald Trump has been granted partial immunity.
Based on the opinion issued by SCOTUS, "the nature of Presidential power entitles a former President to absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for actions within his conclusive and preclusive constitutional authority. And he is entitled to at least presumptive immunity from prosecution for all his official acts. There is no immunity for unofficial acts".
Landmark Ruling Ahead Of Elections
The final vote from SCOTUS came down to 6-3 of which three liberals dissented the opinion. As per Chief Justice John Roberts, a President does need immunity for their officials acts.
"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," wrote Roberts.
Based on this ruling, Trump will be allowed to stake a claim at immunity from criminal prosecution for some of his acts during the last few days of his presidency, such as the January 6 Capitol storm.
Furthermore, this ruling also rejects a decision made by a appeals court in February which ruled that Trump has no immunity from the charges against him.
This ruling will now impact at least three cases against the former president. These are -
Capitol Riot Of January 2021 - Prosecutors allege Trump pressured officials to reverse the results of the 2020 elections, spread lies about fraud and was behind the storming of the capitol on January 6, 2021.
Classified documents - Trump has also been accused of mishandling classified documents. The former president was accused of taking the documents form the White House to his Mar-a-Lago residence after he left office. Under his, he has been accused of violating the Espionage Act.
Georgia 2020 Election Case - Trump and 18 others have been accused of conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 elections in Georgia, which is a swing state, to cover up his very narrow defeat to Biden.
Amid the criminal charges against him, Trump has argued that as the President of the United States, he has absolute immunity from official acts while in office and after leaving the office.
The former president's counsel have argued before the Supreme Court that this presidential immunity will stop any prosecution attempts against Trump regarding his actions on January 6 and 7, 2021 during the Capitol riots and other attempts to overturn the result for the 2020 Presidential Elections, where Biden won.
This ruling of the Supreme Court also comes days after the presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. During the debate, Trump has been accused of lying and spreading false information during almost all questions asked by the moderators.
With his election campaign in full swing, Trump has already made it clear that if he is elected to power in November, he would pardon himself of all charges.
