In a much-anticipated ruling by the Supreme Court today, the highest court in the land ruled 6-3 that former President Donald Trump has “some” immunity from prosecution in the federal election interference case.
Wyoming senior Senator John Barrasso released a statement, applauding SCOTUS’ decision, saying, “Today is another victory for democracy and the rule of law against Democrat lawlessness. Joe Biden and the Democrats are weaponizing the justice system because they know President Trump will beat them in November. President Trump has rightly pursued all legal channels to stop Democrats’ political prosecutions. The election will be decided at the ballot box, not in a courtroom.”
But this doesn’t mean that the lawsuit against the former president is over or dismissed.
Chief Justice John Roberts in writing for the majority opinion, rejected Trump’s wide-reaching claims for immunity, saying that Trump only has for his “official” acts as president.
But since the high court didn’t determine what constitutes an “official” act in this case, that determination will be made in a lower court, with Judge Tanya Chutkan making critical decisions that will shape the future of the historic prosecution, according to Reuters.
Chutkan, a judge on the U.S. District Court in Washington, will have to decide whether a pair of Supreme Court rulings requires some of the allegations against the Republican presidential candidate be tossed out.
Another crucial decision will concern the timing of the trial, which will determine whether a jury hears evidence that Trump sought to subvert the last election before his November 5th election rematch with Democratic President Joe Biden.
Previously, Chutkan had promised to give Trump and his legal team about 90 days to prepare for trial once the case returns to her courtroom, with a trial expected to last six to eight weeks.
Trump was convicted of falsifying business records in New York in May and faces two other criminal prosecutions in addition to the federal election subversion case, which many legal observers see as the only one with even a slim chance of going to trial before the election.
