The Supreme Court's immunity opinion created a test Trump can't help but pass

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MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell explains exactly what the Supreme Court’s immunity does – and does not – mean for Defendant Trump and why it could mean the evidence against Trump in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s January 6th case could be discussed in a federal court before Election Day.

It’s hard to see how the Supreme Court’s ruling on whether former President Donald Trump enjoys immunity from prosecution could be much worse. It’s true that the opinion in Trump v. United States doesn’t grant him the absolute immunity that he’d claimed. Instead, Chief Justice John Roberts authored a majority opinion as close as possible to finding that absolute immunity without making a complete mockery of the findings of the lower courts.

More damaging, Smith is now blocked from even using those supposedly “official acts” as evidence to prove criminality for unofficial acts, whichever those wind up being. The overall effect is to tie prosecutors’ hands, cutting them off from one of the key factors in determining whether to bring charges against a person. Importantly, Roberts also writes that “in dividing official from unofficial conduct, courts may not inquire into the President’s motives.

 

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