Supreme Court rules that Trump is immune from prosecution for 'official acts' during presidency
Donald Trump.
THE US SUPREME COURT has ruled that Donald Trump is partially immune from prosecution for actions that are considered “official acts”, that were taken while he was in the White House.
The court ruled that a former president is immune from prosecution for “official acts” but not from unofficial acts.
The decision comes after a federal grand jury indicted the former President on four counts for conduct that happened during his Presidency – the indictment alleged that Trump had conspired to overturn the 2020 election result by spreading knowingly false claims of election fraud to obstruct votes being certified.
Trump fought back against the indictment on the basis of Presidential immunity.
The District Court decided against his motion, and said that presidents don’t possess federal criminal immunity for any acts.
The Supreme Court decision today, however, is in Trump’s favour.
The court found that under the constitution, the nature of presidential power entitles a former president to “absolute immunity from criminal prosecutions” for actions that were taken while he held the office.
It’s a historic decision that is sure to impact the upcoming election – as Biden’s campaign team has made much of Trump’s legal woes.
Trump is still facing a number of other cases and allegations made against him.