A legal system that has dealt with Donald J. Trump’s painful blow over the last six months has only given him one of the most significant pieces of good news received since the campaign began.
The US Supreme Court, which has a conservative majority dominated by Mr Trump’s nominees, ruled on Monday that the former president is partially shielded from prosecution as he tries to fight indictments by special counsel Jack Smith related to Mr Trump’s efforts. thwarting the transfer of power after the 2020 election.
The broad contours of the decision – that the president will have the right to substantial protection for official actions – has been expected by political and judicial observers for months. However, Mr Trump hailed it as a victory.
“Great victory for our constitution and democracy. Proud to be an American!” Mr. Trump wrote about Social Truth in all caps.
The decision means the trial in the case will almost certainly be pushed back until after the November election — and, if Mr. Trump wins, the Justice Department will almost certainly drop the case, according to people close to Mr. Trump.
For President Joseph R. Biden Jr., who is seeking a second term in office, the decision was not the most helpful outcome in his efforts to portray Mr. Trump as dangerous; which will be the confirmation of the indictment. Mr. Biden’s team immediately highlighted the decision as evidence of an existential threat that the current president has said his predecessors and possible successors face in the country.
A statement attributed to Biden’s senior campaign adviser said, “Today’s verdict does not change the facts, so let’s be clear about what happened on January 6: Donald Trump lashed out after losing the 2020 election and encouraged the crowd to overturn the results of a free and fair election. Trump has run for president as a convicted felon for the same reason he sat while the crowd stormed the Capitol: He thinks he is above the law and is willing to do whatever it takes to gain and hold power for himself.
Republicans were quick to point to the decision as another example of the kind of luck — some of it self-inflicted, such as with the Supreme Court being formed — that Mr. Trump has often experienced as he has stretched the system so far, and sometimes even further. than expected.
As Mr. Trump faces an impeachment trial scheduled for January 6, 2021, one Republican after another has explained not voting to impeach him in the Senate, arguing that the criminal justice system is a more appropriate place for him to be held accountable. The same Republicans are now supporting Mr. Trump for a second term, which the former president has promised a maximum approach to executive power, and which will take place after the Supreme Court defines official acts as immunity from prosecution. .
In an interview with the Fox News website, Mr Trump claimed he had been “bullied” by Democrats – including former President Barack Obama and Mr Biden – “for years.”
“And now the court has spoken,” Mr. Trump said, adding, “Now I’m free to campaign like anybody else. We’re leading in every poll — by a lot — and we’re going to make America great again.
Mr. Trump is always campaigning but he wants: a mix of golf outings during the day and a few public meetings each month, mixed with a few court appearances that he has chosen to attend throughout 2023 and early 2024. Mr. Trump seems very happy. that time, and the media spectacle that ensued.
But by April, when what was now almost certain to be the only criminal trial he would face before Election Day began in Manhattan, the excitement faded.
Mr. Trump was convicted in a six-week trial on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, which prosecutors said was made to hide hush-money payments to porn stars during the 2016 campaign.
He is scheduled to be sentenced in the case on July 11, and the Supreme Court’s decision is unlikely to delay it. But while some on Mr. Trump’s team have concerns about that possibility, some observers believe that Justice Juan M. Merchan will force Mr. Trump to be behind bars or under house arrest during the presidential race.
Mr. Trump has enjoyed nothing about being a convicted felon. But politically, that belief benefited his candidacy in the short term. He has raised an astonishing amount of money, while various Republicans are suddenly calling for Democrats to be prosecuted in retaliation.
While the Supreme Court has taken an initial step outlining immunity, it is unclear what time it will take next. The court has returned the matter to the trial judge, Tanya Chutkan, who will now have to decide whether to conduct a miniature version of the trial to decide whether the allegations contained in the special counsel’s indictment are official acts, and therefore will potentially be immune from prosecution. with the decision of the Supreme Court on Monday.
That process, depending on the scope of matters Judge Chutkan is allowed to hear, could prove problematic in detail for Mr. Trump. The reality of the January 6 attack on the Capitol by the pro-Trump crowd – and Mr. Trump’s public lie about winning the 2020 election in the week after the election – is definitely unhelpful for Mr. Trump with swing voters.
Therefore, Mr. Trump’s allies were relieved that the initial question in the debate against Mr. Biden last week was not about the Capitol attack, which Mr. Trump continues to defend, but about the economy.
The mini-trial could once again focus on what happened in Washington. But Mr. Trump’s legal team has proven expert at kicking the can down the road, and that may not happen before the election. Even so, any real test of Mr. Trump’s actions in his bid to stay in power is still a long way off.
However, the hope is that the mini-trial may be the best option for Democrats who want to keep Mr. Trump’s election-damaging actions at bay.
“When Trump tried to overturn the results of the election that he lost in 2020, it was not an official act of the president,” JB Pritzker, the Democratic governor of Illinois, said in a statement. “This is the act of a despotic narcissist who is trying to subvert our democracy in order to hold power, and he must answer for his actions.”
