Trump has some immunity from prosecution, Supreme Court rules

The US Supreme Court has ruled that former presidents are entitled to absolute immunity from prosecution for official acts taken while in office, but have no immunity for unofficial acts.

"Under our constitutional structure of separated powers, the nature of Presidential power entitles a former President to absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for actions within his conclusive and preclusive constitutional authority," the ruling says.

"And he is entitled to at least presumptive immunity from prosecution for all his official acts. There is no immunity for unofficial acts."

What is an unofficial act?

The justices are leaving it to a lower court to decide whether two actions taken by Donald Trump were unofficial acts:

Trying to convince certain state officials that alleged election fraud meant they should change the state's electoral votes for Trump

Creating lists of what are commonly called "false electors" for the states to send to Congress to case the electoral votes for Trump

These both relate to charges Trump faces in the state of Georgia.

Trump and 18 others are being prosecuted in Georgia for conspiracy to overturn the state's 2020 election results, which they deny.

The landmark decision means the federal election interference case against Donald Trump will return to a lower court which will then decide how to apply this ruling

The trial in that case was postponed pending a ruling on the immunity claim, and will now likely be delayed further

Prosecutors in that case allege Trump pressured officials to reverse the 2020 election result and sought to exploit the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021, in an effort to stay in power

The Supreme Court ruled 6-3, with Justice Sonia Sotomayor among those opposing the decision. She said she did so with "fear for our democracy" and "the president is now a king above the law"

Why this ruling will leave Trump and his team pleased

Donald Trump, the court held, has total immunity for official acts as president related to his core constitutional duties. Beyond that, there is a presumption of immunity for any other official acts.

In practical terms, that means prosecutors will have to work much harder to bring their case over election interference and the January 6 riot at the US Capitol.

Chief Justice John Roberts, in his opinion, outlined guidance that could be particularly damaging to the prosecution’s case.

Trump's attempts to pressure Vice President Mike Pence not to certify Joe Biden’s election victory – a key part of special prosecutor Jack Smith’s case – are the kind of official action subject to a higher standard of legal review. His communications with Justice Department officials have absolute immunity.

The president’s comments on January 6 – which have been alleged to be incitement of the Capitol attack - are also likely to be considered official actions.

The court added, however, that Trump does not have immunity for non-official actions, which means he could still face some charges.

At the very least, the court’s decision guarantees that this case will be delayed well beyond November’s presidential election as the lower court applies the details of this decision.

The court may not have given Trump the total immunity he asked for, but the practical implication is this is a major victory for the former president.

Biden campaign says ruling 'doesn't change the facts'

Though Donald Trump is taking today's Supreme Court ruling as a win, Joe Biden's re-election campaign says it "doesn't change the facts" of what happened on January 6, 2021.

"Donald Trump snapped after he lost the 2020 election and encouraged a mob to overthrow the results of a free and fair election," the campaign said in a statement, reiterating a major point Biden is trying to make to voters - that Trump is a danger to democracy.

Trump "thinks he’s above the law and is willing to do anything to gain and hold onto power for himself," the statement added.