Biden criticizes the historic Supreme Court decision about Trump immunity

In light of the US Supreme Court’s historic decision on presidential immunity, President Joe Biden issued a warning on Monday, stating that Donald Trump will take advantage of this “dangerous precedent” if elected in November.

Trump and all presidents are granted “absolute immunity” from criminal prosecution for “official acts” committed while in office, according to a ruling by the conservative-dominated Supreme Court. However, criminal penalties may still be imposed for “unofficial acts.”

“For all practical purposes, today’s decision almost certainly means there are no limits to what a president can do. This is a fundamentally new principle, and it’s a dangerous precedent,” Biden said in a speech at the White House.

Criminal allegations against Trump stem from his attempts to reverse Biden’s defeat in the 2020 election; however, the trial was postponed while the Supreme Court reviewed his claims of immunity.

The ideologically divided 6-3 decision on Monday is expected to further postpone the case’s proceedings, most likely until after voters cast their ballots in November.

“The American people must decide if they want to entrust… once again, the presidency to Donald Trump, now knowing he’ll be more emboldened to do whatever he pleases, whenever he wants to do it,” Biden said.

In his majority ruling, Chief Justice John Roberts, a conservative, stated that although a president enjoys “absolute immunity” from criminal prosecution for actions performed while in office, he is “not above the law.”

“The president therefore may not be prosecuted for exercising his core constitutional powers,” Roberts said.

“As for a President’s unofficial acts, there is no immunity,” the chief justice added, sending the case back to a lower court to determine which of the charges facing Trump involve official or unofficial conduct.

“To the extent that Trump was trying to drag his feet and extend this beyond the election, he has succeeded wildly,” Schwinn said.

The opinion also provides a “roadmap” for a US leader to avoid prosecution for a particular action “simply by intertwining it with official government action,” he added.

“That’s going to seriously hamstring the prosecution of a former president because the president’s official actions and unofficial actions are so often intertwined,” he said.

Trump is accused of conspiring to defraud the United States and of obstructing an official proceeding after a tumultuous group of his supporters attempted to stop the joint session of Congress scheduled for January 6, 2021, which was meant to formally recognize Biden’s victory.

In addition, the 78-year-old former president is accused of plotting to prevent Americans from exercising their right to vote and have their votes tallied.

“The public has a right to know the answer about what happened on January 6, before they’re asked to vote again this year,” Biden said.

“Now because of today’s decision, that is highly, highly unlikely. It’s a terrible disservice to the people of this nation.”

Plan an overthrow? “Immune” –

Justice Sonia Sotomayor, one of the three liberal justices who dissented from the Monday decision, stated that she was doing so “with fear for our democracy.”

“Never in the history of our Republic has a President had reason to believe that he would be immune from criminal prosecution if he used the trappings of his office to violate the criminal law,” Sotomayor said. “In every use of official power, the President is now a king above the law.”

“Orders the Navy’s Seal Team 6 to assassinate a political rival? Immune. Organizes a military coup to hold onto power? Immune. Takes a bribe in exchange for a pardon? Immune. Immune, immune, immune.”

Trump, in posts on Truth Social, welcomed the decision calling it a “big win for our Constitution and democracy.”

“Today’s Historic Decision by the Supreme Court should end all of Crooked Joe Biden’s Witch Hunts against me,” he said.

– Election case will ‘drag on’ -.

Steven Schwinn, a law professor at the University of Illinois Chicago, said the ruling means the case “is going to drag on more and more, and longer and longer, and well beyond the election.”

Trump has been attempting to postpone the trials of four criminal cases until after the election.

In May of 2016, Trump was found guilty in New York of fabricating financial documents to conceal a sexual assault incident during the campaign. This conviction made him the first former president of the United States to be found guilty of a felony.

On July 11, he will be sentenced; however, according to US media, his attorneys have written to the judge in that case, requesting that the verdict be overturned in light of the immunity order.

Trump’s attorneys have successfully postponed the three other trials, which center on his attempts to rig the 2020 election and his possession of top-secret materials at his Florida estate, by filing a deluge of pre-trial motions.

After taking the oath of office in January 2025, should Trump be re-elected, he may decide to close the federal cases against him.

AFP