Supreme Court Rules Trump Immune from Prosecution for Official Acts, Tiny Victory Amid Pending Election Subversion Case, US

On Monday, the Supreme Court handed Donald Trump a big but partial victory, ruling that he has immunity from criminal prosecution for any official act he took as president — but not unofficial acts. The 6-3 decision, written by Chief Justice John Roberts and split on ideological lines, sends the matter back to federal Judge Tanya Chutkan who is presiding over the long-delayed federal election subversion case against Trump. In August 2023, Trump was indicted on four counts in connection with his attempt to overturn the 2020 election, resulting in the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. He pleaded not guilty. Trump and his legal team have long argued that he has immunity from federal prosecution in this case because his actions took place while he was president. A D.C. appeals court disagreed with that premise; the three-member panel ruling in February that Trump does not have presidential immunity in the case. Later that month, the Supreme Court agreed to hear his argument. And on Monday, they overturned the appeals court’s ruling. Chutkan had already delayed the January 6 cases’s planned start date in anticipation of the Supreme Court’s ruling. Now she will need to painstakingly establish which of Trump’s actions is covered by the new immunity standard and which aren’t, a process that will likely be time-consuming, and which makes it increasingly doubtful that Trump’s trial will happen before the November election.