Donald Trump’s claim to immunity from prosecution to be heard by US supreme court today

Then US president Donald Trump during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in July 2020. Photograph: Doug Mills/New York TimesDonald Trump will on Thursday urge the US supreme court to adopt an expansive view of presidential immunity that would confer near-absolute protection for actions taken while in the White House.

The case will force the supreme court to weigh in on one of the most fraught concepts in US law. No statute grants presidential immunity from criminal charges, and case law is limited. The supreme court has ruled on presidential immunity from civil liability, but has never determined whether it stretches to criminal cases.

The US supreme court in Washington, which will on Thursday hear arguments on whether Donald Trump, as a former president, should be immune from criminal prosecution for acts he committed while in office. Photograph: Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images By contrast, many of the briefs filed by legal scholars, historians and advocacy groups argue that Trump’s claims are not backed by the constitution, that they betray historical evidence as well as “values that have defined American democracy”, and that alleged attempts to overturn an election do not constitute “presidential authority”.

Some national security and military experts – including Alberto Mora, former US Navy general counsel, and Alexander Vershbow, former Nato deputy secretary general – warned that Trump’s “broad view of immunity would imperil US national security, weaken the authority of the president, and throw confusion into the chain of command of the armed forces, which the president, as commander-in-chief, commands”.

Oral arguments on Thursday before the supreme court – which is split 6-3 between conservative and liberal justices, including three Trump-appointed members – will be closely watched for any clues about a potential ruling. One likely priority for chief justice John Roberts will be to gather as much consensus as possible for a decision, rather than expose the court to more criticisms about partisanship. The decision in the Colorado ballot case was 9-0.

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