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Former U.S. president Donald Trump – riding a wave of momentum after his 2024 rival bombed calamitously at a high-profile presidential debate last week – received another shot in the arm on Monday when the U.S. supreme court issued a key ruling on presidential immunity.
The court’s justices ruled 6-3 that former presidents – including Trump – enjoy immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts undertaken during their terms of office. Former presidents can, however, be prosecuted for crimes which fall outside of their official duties.
You know, like anything that went down on Epstein Island …
Also, presidents who manage to avoid being convicted by the U.S. Senate following impeachment by the House – a fate which befell Trump not once but twice – can still be prosecuted depending on whether it is determined their conduct constituted an official act.
In its landmark ruling (.pdf), the justices concluded a president “cannot be prosecuted for conduct within his exclusive constitutional authority.”
“Trump is therefore absolutely immune from prosecution for the alleged conduct involving his discussions with Justice Department officials,” the court ruled.

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As for his alleged attempts to pressure former vice president Mike Pence into overturning the results of the 2020 presidential election, the court concluded “whenever the president and vice president discuss their official responsibilities, they engage in official conduct.”
In other words, Trump is presumed to be immune from prosecution as it relates to those allegations as well.
“Allegations that Trump attempted to pressure the vice president to take particular acts in connection with his role at the certification proceeding thus involve official conduct, andTrump is at least presumptively immune from prosecution for such conduct,” the court found.
The court’s ruling effectively gutted the August 2023 indictment of Trump by a federal grand jury. In that case, special prosecutor Jack Smith charged Trump with four felony counts including conspiracy to defraud the United States as well as conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding.
The justices also argued in favor of presumptive immunity as it related to presidential acts which fall within the “outer perimeter” of his official duties.
Among those acts? Trump’s comments to those who participated in the rioting at the U.S. Capitol building on January 6, 2021.
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“Most of a president’s public communications are likely to fall comfortably within the outer perimeter of his official responsibilities,” the court concluded.
In addition to effectively striking down many of the charges against Trump, the ruling urged lower courts to “carefully analyze the indictment’s remaining allegations to determine whether they too involve conduct for which a President must be immune from prosecution.”
“This case is the first criminal prosecution in our nation’s history of a former president for actions taken during his presidency,” chief justice John Roberts wrote in issuing the opinion of the court. “We are called upon to consider whether and under what circumstances such a prosecution may proceed. Doing so requires careful assessment of the scope of presidential power under the Constitution.”
Ultimately, Roberts and his colleagues on the bench – three of whom were appointed by Trump – concluded “the interests that underlie presidential immunity seek to protect not the president himself, but the institution of the presidency.”
On his Truth Social platform, Trump hailed the ruling as a “big win for our Constitution and democracy.”
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“Today’s historic decision by the Supreme Court should end all of Crooked Joe Biden’s witch hunts against me,” Trump added.
Dissenting justices – led by Sonia Sotomayor – assailed the ruling as making “a mockery of the principle, foundational to our constitution and system of government, that no man is above the law.”
“Relying on little more than its own misguided wisdom about the need for ‘bold and unhesitating action,’ the court gives former President Trump all the immunity he asked for and more,” she wrote.
“The relationship between the president and the people he serves has shifted irrevocably,” Sotomayor added. “In every use of official power, the president is now a king above the law.”
“With fear for our democracy, I dissent,” Sotomayor concluded.
Of interest? Perhaps the most significant component of the ruling was contained in a concurring opinion filed by justice Clarence Thomas. According to Thomas, the authority of the special prosecutor is constitutionally murky.
“I write separately to highlight another way in which this prosecution may violate our constitutional structure,” Thomas wrote. “In this case, the attorney general purported to appoint a private citizen as special counsel to prosecute a former president on behalf of the United States. But, I am not sure that any office for the special counsel has been ‘established by law,’ as the Constitution requires.”
According to Thomas, “if Congress has not reached a consensus that a particular office should exist, the executive lacks the power to unilaterally create and then fill that office.”
“Respecting the protections that the Constitution provides for the office of the presidency secures liberty,” Thomas concluded. “In that same vein, the Constitution also secures liberty by separating the powers to create and fill offices. And, there are serious questions whether the attorney general has violated that structure by creating an office of the Special Counsel that has not been established by law.
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THE RULING …
(U.S. Supreme Court)
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina and before that he was a bass guitarist and dive bar bouncer. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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11 comments
Sotomayor isn’t long for this world, she wasn’t exactly the picture of health when appointed, she looks worse in every new picture. The next president will likely appoint at least two new justices during his term, one on each side. It’s easy to see that a 7-2 Supreme Court soon.
“It’s easy to see that a 7-2 Supreme Court soon.”
This isn’t a good thing bub, regardless of which party would control it.
It is a truly unbelievably powerful ruling in the hands of someone who may desire the status of dictator on day one. Especially someone who has a cult following in Congress who would never impeach, even if he murdered a person in Times Square.
I have long been an admirer of the Sup. Court; thinking it our best hope for the survival of a free society based on law and equal justice. I thought our nation was strong enough to survive even the likes of DJT. But I am no longer confident of that. Republicans have destroyed the independence of the SCOTUS. From the corruption and bribe-taking by Alito and Thomas and their transparent lies to the feckless administration of Roberts they simply no longer carry any moral authority. They are now just a tool of the billionaire class, with their only real power, respect, thrown in the trash.
I weep for our beloved America. The great American experiment, probably just ended at the hands of the very type of person the founders feared most. A tyrant who would be king of us all.
TDS
You should really fact check your accusations against Thomas…
“They are now just a tool of the billionaire class”
Always has been. ????????
I think Dred Scott v Sandford should have taught everyone in the modern age not to trust the court to uphold any sort of morality or protection of the common man. That being said, Citizens United should’ve told everyone what the ultimate goal of the court was going to be once conservatives got enough complicit justices in there. The rulings this time around were big ones though. Ethics means nothing. Precedent means nothing. Law means nothing.
Fascism is just end stage capitalism. The train was always heading towards this destination.
Wonder what President Biden will do with his new powers?
It would be a shame if more MAGA criminals became lost in the vast judicial and prison apparatus. They are acting against the government and executive branch. Surely making sure that domestic terrorists (oops, Biden can just declare all MAGA enemies of the state, which clearly they are) and have them imprisoned or eliminated.
Not sure why the SCOTUS just gave Biden the power of a King, but here we are people. When you start freaking out over what Biden is up to, blame Trump and his good buddies on the Court ;-)
Queen Kamala has a ring to it!
Joe could just step aside and hand the keys to our country’s first Black Queen!
I’m sure she could have A LOT of fun with all that power the SCOTUS just handed to Democrats.
Two things:
Joe Biden fairly recently mentioned his friendship with Mitch McConnell during a speech.
Lindsey Graham, who less than a mere 10 years ago got teary eyed in an interview talking about how Joe Biden was such a good person, is now openly salivating at the idea of retribution against his former friend.
Democrats will not fire the first shot. They still think they can come to the table with the other side and have 100% civility and decorum, find compromise and bipartisanship, and somehow end the perpetual gridlock of Congress. They think the other aisle simply disagrees with them. There is a clear and present danger staring them and the country in the face, but they haven’t even identified it as such. Biden’s response to this? “I dissent! Vote for me!”
It’s like a child fell into the polar bear exhibit at the zoo. Someone tell Joe the cute fuzzy bear doesn’t want a hug.
That would be “campaign conduct” and not “official conduct”.
Phew! I thought I misplaced my fiddle!