- author, Peter Bowes
- stock, BBC North America Correspondent
-
Joe Biden has described a Supreme Court ruling granting former President Donald Trump partial immunity from criminal prosecution as a “dangerous precedent.”
The current US president said the ruling undermined the “rule of law” and was a “terrible shame” for Americans.
Earlier, Trump hailed the court’s ruling as a major victory for democracy.
The justices on Monday found that the president has immunity for “official acts” but not for “unofficial acts” and sent the matter back to a trial judge.
The ruling will further delay the criminal prosecution of Trump, who is accused of trying to subvert the 2020 election results that gave Mr Biden victory.
A trial judge must now decide what actions were taken during Trump’s presidency, a process that could take months. Any investigation is unlikely to begin before the November presidential election.
In a televised statement late Monday, President Biden said: “America was founded on the principle that there are no kings. We are all equal before the law. No one, no one is above the law. The president of the United States.
“Today [court] This decision certainly means that there are practically no limits to what a president can do.
“The person who sent that mob into the US Capitol faces possible criminal charges for what happened that day. The American people deserve to be held accountable in the courts before the next election.”
Mr Biden was referring to Trump being investigated for his alleged role in inciting the riots.
“Now, because of today [court] The result, it’s highly unlikely,” Mr Biden said.
Following the Supreme Court’s decision, a trial judge must now decide what actions were taken during Trump’s presidency, a process that could take months. Any testing is unlikely to begin before the November 5 election.
It’s a big boost for Donald Trump — a “big win,” as he puts it on his social media site, Truth Social.
The Supreme Court ruled that all former presidents have partial immunity from criminal prosecution — blanket immunity applies to acts performed as part of the president’s official duties, but does not cover “non-official acts” in private.
A lower court judge must now decide which aspects of the president’s conduct are relevant to criminal prosecution for allegedly trying to overturn the 2020 election outcome.
A majority opinion of the Supreme Court held that his communications with the Department of Justice (DoJ) were immune from prosecution.
Trump is accused in his indictment of pressuring DoJ officials to open investigations into voter fraud despite a lack of evidence.
Three liberal justices on the Supreme Court strongly opposed Monday’s decision. Judge Sonia Sodomeyor said: “The president is now a king above the law.”
Congresswoman Judy Sue, a Democrat, said the fallout from the court’s decision would be far-reaching.
“If a president in any official capacity says they want to do something that we consider to be improper and criminal, they can be excused from taking action,” he said.
The court’s six-to-three ruling would significantly delay any trial — should it ever proceed — until after the November election.
The ruling also applies to other top criminal cases facing Donald Trump, related to top-secret documents found at his Florida home and a case in Georgia accusing him of conspiring to overturn his narrow election loss in the state.
Trump’s legal team has sent a letter regarding the effort to the judge in the case and cited the Supreme Court’s opinion, CBS reported, citing a source familiar with the matter. The case letter has not yet been made public.
The details were first reported by the New York Times.
The case is one of four facing Trump.
“Total coffee junkie. Tv ninja. Unapologetic problem solver. Beer expert.”