INTUSK MAGAZINE

The US Supreme Court's decision to provide previous presidents some immunity from criminal prosecution is a significant win for Donald Trump as it destroys the case against him for undermining the 2020 election and eliminates the possibility of a trial before November. 

The conservative majority of the court decided, 6-3, that presidents might be charged with unofficial activity but would not be prosecuted for official acts that took place inside the "outer perimeter" of their office.

Trump is charged with two counts of conspiracy to hinder the certification of the election results, conspiring to deceive the government, and conspiring to disenfranchise voters as part of a vast operation to rig the 2020 election.

Among the allegations against Trump are that he encouraged his vice president, Mike Pence, to obstruct Congress's certification of Joe Biden's victory, propagated false claims of election fraud, and conspired to assemble fictitious slates of electors.

The Supreme Court returned the case to US District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who will have to go through the indictment line by line in order to assess whether Trump's purported attempts to reverse the outcome of the 2020 election were official actions. 

A three-part test will be used to determine whether a certain act is an official act within the outer bounds of the presidency that carries presumptive immunity, an unofficial act that provides no immunity, or a core presidential duty that carries absolute immunity.

Chutkan was left to do the analysis by the court. However, Chief Justice John Roberts, who authored the majority opinion, concluded in advance that Trump's contacts with representatives of the Justice Department constituted official acts as they are subordinate to the president and are a component of the executive branch.

Roberts also concluded that since the president and vice president were discussing duties, Trump's communications with Pence were presumed to be exempt. According to Roberts, the onus was on the prosecution to show otherwise.

Regarding Trump's January 6 statements, Roberts stated that since the office of president includes giving speeches, they were likely also protected.