As of today, the US Supreme Court will consider Donald Trump’s claim that he cannot be prosecuted for his actions as president. Four questions about this historic case.
Waar gaat de zaak over?
Het vraagstuk waar het hooggerechtshof zich over buigt komt voort uit een van de federale rechtszaken tegen Trump. Die ligt stil in afwachting van het oordeel van de opperrechters.
Speciaal aanklager Jack Smith vervolgt Trump voor zijn rol in aanloop naar en tijdens de bestorming van het Capitool door zijn aanhangers op 6 januari 2021. Trump zou zijn macht als president hebben misbruikt om zijn verkiezingsnederlaag tegen Joe Biden ongedaan te maken.
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Trump claims immunity: he says he cannot be prosecuted at all for his actions as president. Two lower courts firmly rejected this. The Supreme Court will now finally make the decision. It is a unique legal issue, because Trump is the first (former) president ever to be criminally prosecuted.
So Smith will have to wait, and that fact may be more important than the final judgment of the chief justices. The longer that delay, the less likely it is that the case can be resolved before the November elections. If Trump becomes president again, he could order the Justice Department to cease prosecution.
What consequences could the Supreme Court’s ruling have?
If the highest courts agree to the “total immunity” that Trump claims, not much will be left of the case around January 6. It would also have far-reaching consequences for other lawsuits against the former president. The court in Washington previously warned that such a ruling would place all future American presidents above the law.
Experts consider that scenario unlikely, despite the conservative majority on the Supreme Court. They refer, among other things, to an earlier statement. Trump also invoked presidential immunity in 2020, when an investigative jury wanted to see his tax returns. The chief justices did not agree.
If the Supreme Court upholds the Washington court’s ruling in its entirety, the case can start around January 6. It then remains possible that the process will be conducted next summer and completed before the elections.
The chief justices could also decide that presidential immunity applies to some actions Trump is accused of and not others. The case will then be sent back to lower courts to see what remains of Special Prosecutor Smith’s case. In that case, it will be very difficult to complete that process before November.
Why does Trump say he cannot be prosecuted, and what does the prosecutor think about that?
Trump’s immunity claim is very broad, but roughly consists of two parts:
- Under the U.S. Constitution, only Congress has the authority to prosecute a president for what he does during his term in office. Only if he is convicted and deposed there could criminal charges follow. That principle would apply even if Trump had ordered the military to kill a political rival, his lawyer previously said in a lower court.
- Even if Trump could be prosecuted, he did nothing to justify it. He denies having done anything criminal and states that he was only trying to guarantee a fair vote. According to Trump, this was part of his duties as president and he therefore cannot be held personally accountable for it.
Special Prosecutor Smith says a former president can indeed be prosecuted for criminal offenses he committed as head of state. According to him, the immunity that Trump relies on only applies to (former) government officials against whom a civil lawsuit is filed for things they have done in the course of their duties, not as an exemption from criminal prosecution. Smith also argues that the criminal offenses he accuses Trump of do not fall within the duties of a president.
When is the Supreme Court’s decision expected?
Today, the chief justices will hear arguments from prosecutors and Trump’s defense. Then they deliberate. It is impossible to predict exactly how long that will take. The judgment is expected to come before the judges go on summer recess in June.
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