US Supreme Court rules Trump has ‘absolute immunity’ for official acts
The US Supreme Court has ruled that former presidents are entitled to some degree of immunity from criminal prosecution, dramatically reducing the likelihood that the federal criminal case against Donald Trump on charges he plotted to stop the transfer of power will proceed before the 2024 election, the Guardian reported.
The court’s conservative majority – which Trump helped create – found that presidents were protected from prosecution for official actions that extended to the “outer perimeter” of his office, but could face charges for conduct undertaken in a personal or private manner.
Trump is accused of overseeing a sprawling effort to subvert the 2020 election, including two counts of conspiring to obstruct the certification of the election results, conspiring to defraud the government, and conspiring to disenfranchise voters.
Among the accusations: Trump spread false claims of election fraud, plotted to recruit fake slates of electors, pressured US Justice Department officials to open sham investigations into election fraud, and pressured his vice-president, Mike Pence, to obstruct Congress’s certification of Joe Biden’s win.