The US Supreme Court ruled 6-3 today that former US President Donald Trump has "absolute immunity" from prosecution for "official acts" he performed as president, in a decision that bolsters his defense from prosecution for alleged attempts to overturn te results of the 2020 presidential election.
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority decision, “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.”
“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,” Roberts wrote. “That immunity applies equally to all occupants of the Oval Office, regardless of politics, policy, or party.”
The Chief Justice noted that this immunity does not extend to "unofficial acts" and that "not everything the President does is official."
Monday's ruling establishes that American presidents have a certain degree of immunity from prosecution for acts committed while in office. The six conservative justices voted in favor of the majority opinion, while the three liberal justices dissented.
In August 2023, Trump was charged with conspiring to defraud the United States, corruptly obstructing an official proceeding and conspiring to do so, and conspiring against the right of Americans to vote. He has pleaded not guilty and his defense has maintained that as he was president at the time the acts were allegedly committed, he should be immune from prosecution for them.
A lower court had previously rejected Trump's claims of immunity. It will now be up to the lower courts to decide on the extent of the immunity the Supreme Court established that the president has.
It is unlikely that the trial in the case in question will begin before the November 2024 US presidential elections, in which Trump is once again running as a candidate.