The Supreme Court’s decision on Monday in former President Donald Trump’s 2020 election interference case significantly decreases the likelihood of him facing trial in Washington before the November election. The court did not dismiss the indictment, as Trump had requested, which alleges that he illegally attempted to retain power after losing to President Joe Biden. Nonetheless, the ruling is a considerable win for Trump, the leading Republican presidential candidate, who has been aiming to delay legal proceedings until after the election.
The timing of the trial is crucial because if Trump wins the election, he could appoint an attorney general who might seek to dismiss this case and other federal prosecutions against him. Alternatively, Trump could potentially pardon himself. Trump celebrated the ruling on his social media platform, declaring, “BIG WIN FOR OUR CONSTITUTION AND DEMOCRACY. PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!”
In contrast, President Biden criticized the court’s decision, calling it a “terrible disservice” to the American people, who he believes deserve to know the case’s outcome before voting. Biden stated, “The American people will have to render a judgment about Donald Trump’s behavior. The American people must decide whether Trump’s assault on our democracy on Jan. 6 makes him unfit for public office.”
The Opinion
The court’s conservative majority ruled that former presidents have absolute immunity from prosecution for official acts within their “exclusive sphere of constitutional authority” and are generally immune for all official acts. They do not have immunity for private actions. This ruling restricts special counsel Jack Smith from proceeding with major allegations in the indictment or requires him to defend their use in future proceedings before the trial judge.
For example, the justices nullified Smith’s use of allegations that Trump tried to leverage the Justice Department’s investigative power to reverse the election results, ruling that Trump’s communications with agency officials are clearly protected from prosecution. The case now returns to U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who must “carefully analyze” whether other allegations involve official conduct for which Trump would be immune.
One key issue for further examination is Trump’s persistent pressure on then-Vice President Mike Pence not to certify the electoral votes on January 6, 2021. The justices stated it is “ultimately the Government’s burden to rebut the presumption of immunity” in Trump’s interactions with Pence. Additionally, the court ordered further scrutiny of Trump’s posts on X (formerly Twitter) and a speech he delivered to supporters before the Capitol riot, to determine whether they constitute official or unofficial acts.
The Fake Electors Scheme
The justices called for new fact-finding on one of the indictment’s most startling allegations—that Trump participated in a scheme by allies to enlist slates of fraudulent electors in battleground states won by Biden, falsely claiming Trump had won those states. Trump’s team argued that selecting alternate electors was consistent with his presidential interest in election integrity, citing a precedent from the disputed 1876 election. However, Smith’s team portrayed the scheme as a purely private action unrelated to presidential duties.
The conservative majority did not resolve which side was correct, noting that determining the proper characterization of the conduct requires a detailed analysis of the indictment’s extensive and interrelated allegations. They stated, “This alleged conduct cannot be neatly categorized as falling within a particular Presidential function,” requiring a fact-specific assessment of numerous interactions with state officials and private individuals.
The Dissenters
The three liberal justices—Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson—sharply criticized the majority opinion. Sotomayor, in a dramatic bench dissent, argued that the conservative majority wrongly insulated the U.S. president as “a king above the law.” She stated, “Ironic isn’t it? The man in charge of enforcing laws can now just break them.”
The dissenters warned that the majority decision makes presidents immune from prosecution for actions such as ordering Navy SEALs to assassinate a political rival, organizing a military coup, or accepting bribes for pardons. Sotomayor wrote, “Even if these nightmare scenarios never play out, and I pray they never do, the damage has been done. The relationship between the President and the people he serves has shifted irrevocably. In every use of official power, the President is now a king above the law.”
In a separate dissent, Jackson stated that the majority’s ruling “breaks new and dangerous ground,” declaring, “The Court has now declared for the first time in history that the most powerful official in the United States can (under circumstances yet to be fully determined) become a law unto himself.” The majority accused the liberal justices of “fear mongering” and maintaining a “tone of chilling doom that is wholly disproportionate to what the court actually does today.”
What Comes Next
The case will now return to Judge Chutkan. The trial was initially set to begin in March but has been on hold since December to allow Trump to pursue his appeal. Chutkan had previously indicated she would give the two sides at least three months to prepare for trial once the case returned to her court. This could have allowed the trial to commence before the election if the Supreme Court had ruled Trump was not immune from prosecution.
However, the Supreme Court’s directive for further analysis is expected to prolong the case with legal debates over whether the actions in the indictment were official or unofficial.
Trump’s Other Cases
Trump was convicted in May of 34 felony counts in his hush money trial in New York and is scheduled for sentencing on July 11. The charges of falsifying business records carry a maximum penalty of four years in prison, though prison time is not guaranteed, with other potential outcomes including fines or probation.
Trump’s other criminal cases are also unlikely to go to trial before the election. An appeals court recently halted his Georgia 2020 election interference case while reviewing a lower court’s ruling allowing Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to stay on the case. No trial date had been set, and Trump’s lawyers have claimed presidential immunity, though no ruling has been made.
In the case regarding classified documents found at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon canceled the May trial date due to legal issues. A new trial date has not been set, and Trump’s team has claimed immunity, a stance prosecutors dispute. Cannon recently agreed to revisit a ruling by another judge allowing crucial obstruction of justice evidence to be introduced, causing further delays.
Justice Clarence Thomas’s separate concurrence suggested that Smith’s appointment was improper, but no other justice supported this view, indicating minimal impact on the Supreme Court’s stance.
