At Thursday’s hearing, however, some of the judges seemed to take the position that the president would at least have some kind of protection from criminal charges for his official decisions.
The justices of the US Supreme Court did not seem convinced that the former president of the country With Donald Trump would have complete immunity from prosecution.
In Thursday’s hearing, however, some of the judges seemed to take the position that the presidential protection from prosecution would to some extent apply to actions considered as official decisions. Of the nine judges, four or five seemed to be in favor of partial immunity from prosecution.
The hearing is related to a pending lower-level trial in which Trump is accused of trying to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. According to Trump, he had complete immunity from criminal charges for all the actions he has taken while president. The court of appeals reached the opposite position in February, after which Trump appealed the case to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court’s decision to take the issue into consideration postpones the trial regarding the attempt to overturn the election result. The judges are expected to make a decision on the matter by the end of June.
Liberal Justices Against Trump’s Claim
A conservative judge Samuel Alito asked at the hearing that if presidents had no immunity from prosecution, why wouldn’t presidents pardon themselves at the end of their terms. Another conservative judge Clarence Thomas also wondered why previous presidents had not been criminally charged.
– The reason why there have been no previous criminal charges is the lack of crimes, representing the special prosecutor who indicted Trump Michael Dreeben said at the hearing.
According to Dreeben, giving full immunity from prosecution would give ex-presidents immunity from criminal law in cases of corruption, treason and murder, among other things.
The court’s three liberal judges were clearly against full immunity from prosecution.
A liberal judge Elena Kagan asked whether, for example, a president who sells nuclear weapons secrets or carries out a coup d’état should be protected from criminal charges.
On Thursday, Trump had to participate in a criminal trial in New York, where he is accused of accounting crimes porn star to Stormy Daniels in the related so-called swindling money case.
Trump complained to reporters that the criminal trial judge did not allow him to attend the Supreme Court hearing.