BREAKING NEWS: Joe Biden Makes Emergency Announcement from WH
On Monday night, President Joe Biden addressed the nation from the White House regarding the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to grant former President Donald Trump absolute immunity from prosecution for "official acts" during his presidency.
Speaking from the red-carpeted Cross Hall, Biden compared the ruling to handing Trump "the keys to a dictatorship."
“This nation was founded on the principle that there are no kings in America,” Biden stated. “Each of us is equal before the law. No one, no one is above the law – not even the president of the United States. But today’s Supreme Court decision on presidential immunity has fundamentally changed that. For all practical purposes, today’s decision almost certainly means that there are virtually no limits on what a president can do.”
Biden continued, “This decision today continues the court’s recent attacks on a wide range of long-established legal principles in our nation, from gutting voting rights and civil rights to taking away a woman’s right to choose, to today’s decision that undermines the rule of law of this nation.”
Critics noted that Biden, who spoke for approximately four minutes using a teleprompter, appeared unusually orange after looking pale white during last week's debate.
On Monday, the Supreme Court issued its anticipated ruling on Trump’s claims of “immunity” from prosecution, with the fate of at least two federal cases against him hanging in the balance.
The justices ruled 6-3 that a former president has absolute immunity for his core constitutional powers.
The ruling means Trump cannot be prosecuted for actions taken as president if those actions were part of his official duties. However, he can be prosecuted for actions outside his official role, with lower courts tasked to determine the nature of each action.
In late April, the justices heard arguments on whether Trump can face criminal charges for allegedly conspiring to overturn the 2020 election results.
This decision affects Trump’s trial in Washington, D.C., overseen by U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, which was initially scheduled for March 4 but is now on hold, as well as his trials in Florida and Georgia, as noted by the SCOTUS blog.
Last summer, Trump was indicted on four counts related to Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into the January 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol attacks. The indictment claims Trump created “widespread mistrust … through pervasive and destabilizing lies about election fraud” and engaged in three criminal conspiracies to target “a bedrock function of the United States federal government: the nation’s process of collecting, counting, and certifying the results of the presidential election.”
After Chutkan denied Trump’s request to dismiss the charges in December, Special Counsel Jack Smith sought the Supreme Court’s opinion on Trump’s claim to immunity without waiting for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to rule on Trump’s appeal.
The justices denied Smith’s request on December 22, according to the SCOTUS Blog, which summarized Trump’s legal arguments:
In his Supreme Court brief, Trump argues that allowing the charges to proceed would pose “a mortal threat to the Presidency’s independence.” He contends, “The President cannot function, and the Presidency itself cannot retain its vital independence if the President faces criminal prosecution for official acts once he leaves office,” as the threat of prosecution would hang over presidential decision-making.
Trump references a law review article by then-Judge Brett Kavanaugh, asserting that “a President who is concerned about an ongoing criminal investigation is almost inevitably going to do a worse job as President.” He adds, “if that criminal investigation is waiting in the wings until he leaves office,” the same concern applies.
Trump argues that a president can never be prosecuted for official acts, pointing to a “long history” of no prosecutions despite perceived motives and opportunities—citing examples like John Quincy Adams appointing Henry Clay as secretary of state after Clay’s role in delivering the 1824 election, and President Biden’s handling of the southern border.
Trump maintains that immunity from criminal prosecution is rooted in both the Constitution and the principle of separation of powers, emphasizing the executive vesting clause, which grants the president “executive power,” asserting that courts cannot interfere with this authority due to the separation of powers principle.
Trump also cites the impeachment judgment clause of the Constitution, which states that someone impeached and convicted can still be indicted, tried, and punished “according to law.”