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WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 01: Demonstrators participate in a rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court on July 01, 2024 in Washington, DC. The Supreme Court released its ruling in Trump v. United States, stating that a former president has absolute immunity for official acts but that immunity is not extended for unofficial acts.   Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by CHIP SOMODEVILLA / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

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Supreme Court Releases Final Opinions Of The Term

Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Demonstrators participate in a rally outside the US Supreme Court on July 1, 2024 in Washington, DC. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/AFP" src="https://news-workbench-api.abs-cbn.com/api/upload-raw/20240701160716/1dcf67d29f47f1d669393ea9b2afcc919e4bec2ab90f9d74e8ca353c94bd09db.jpg" class="fr-fil fr-dib"/><figcaption>Demonstrators participate in a rally outside the US Supreme Court on July 1, 2024 in Washington, DC. <em>Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/AFP</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>WASHINGTON<strong> (UPDATED) </strong>— The US Supreme Court ruled Monday that Donald Trump enjoys some immunity from prosecution as a former president, a decision set to delay his trial for conspiring to overturn the 2020 election.</p><p>The 6-3 ruling split along ideological lines comes four months ahead of the presidential election in which Trump is the Republican candidate to take on Democrat Joe Biden.</p><p>Justices who disagreed with the judgment issued stinging criticism and aired fears for the country&#x27;s democratic future, but Trump was quick to revel in what he called a &quot;big win.&quot;</p><p>Conservative Chief Justice John Roberts, in his majority opinion, said a president is &quot;not above the law&quot; but does have &quot;absolute immunity&quot; from criminal prosecution for official acts taken while in office.</p><p>&quot;The president therefore may not be prosecuted for exercising his core constitutional powers,&quot; Roberts said.</p><p>&quot;As for a President&#x27;s unofficial acts, there is no immunity,&quot; the chief justice added, sending the case back to a lower court to determine which of the charges facing Trump involve official or unofficial conduct.</p><p>Both a District Court and an appeals court panel had previously rejected Trump&#x27;s immunity claims in a historic case with far-reaching implications for executive power.</p><p>The District Court will now hold a series of pre-trial hearings, making a trial before November extremely unlikely.</p><p>Trump is charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States as well as obstruction of an official proceeding -- when a violent mob of his supporters tried to prevent the January 6, 2021 joint session of Congress held to certify Biden&#x27;s victory.</p><p>The 78-year-old former president is also charged with conspiracy to deny Americans the right to vote and to have their votes counted.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/world/2024/4/25/us-supreme-court-weighs-trump-claim-of-absolute-immunity-2314">READ: US Supreme Court weighs Trump claim of &#x27;absolute immunity&#x27;</a></div><div><strong>&#x27;Organize a coup? Immune&#x27;</strong></div><p>The three liberal justices dissented from Monday&#x27;s ruling with Justice Sonia Sotomayor saying she was doing so &quot;with fear for our democracy.&quot;</p><p>&quot;Never in the history of our Republic has a President had reason to believe that he would be immune from criminal prosecution if he used the trappings of his office to violate the criminal law,&quot; Sotomayor said. &quot;In every use of official power, the President is now a king above the law.&quot;</p><p>&quot;Orders the Navy&#x27;s Seal Team 6 to assassinate a political rival? Immune. Organizes a military coup to hold onto power? Immune. Takes a bribe in exchange for a pardon? Immune. Immune, immune, immune,&quot; she said.</p><p>Trump, in posts on Truth Social, welcomed the decision calling it a &quot;big win for our Constitution and democracy.&quot;</p><p>&quot;Today&#x27;s Historic Decision by the Supreme Court should end all of Crooked Joe Biden&#x27;s Witch Hunts against me,&quot; he said.</p><p>Biden&#x27;s Deputy Campaign Manager Quentin Fulks expressed outrage.</p><p>&quot;They just handed Donald Trump the keys to a dictatorship,&quot; Fulks said.</p><p>The White House said Biden would personally address the Supreme Court ruling in remarks to reporters at 7:45 pm (2345 GMT).</p><p>Trump&#x27;s original trial date in the election subversion case had been March 4.</p><p>But the Supreme Court — dominated by conservatives, including three appointed by Trump — agreed to hear his argument for absolute immunity, putting the case on hold while they considered the matter in April.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/12/02/23/trump-can-be-sued-for-jan-6-riots-us-court-says">RELATED: Trump can be sued for Jan 6 riots, US court says</a></div><div><strong>&#x27;Drag on&#x27;</strong></div><p>Steven Schwinn, a law professor at the University of Illinois Chicago, said the ruling means the case &quot;is going to drag on more and more and longer and longer and well beyond the election.&quot;</p><p>&quot;To the extent that Trump was trying to drag his feet and extend this beyond the election, he has succeeded wildly,&quot; Schwinn said.</p><p>The opinion also provides a &quot;roadmap&quot; for a US leader to avoid prosecution for a particular action &quot;simply by intertwining it with official government action,&quot; he added.</p><p>&quot;That&#x27;s going to seriously hamstring the prosecution of a former president because the president&#x27;s official actions and unofficial actions are so often intertwined,&quot; he said.</p><p>Facing four criminal cases, Trump has been doing everything in his power to delay the trials until after the election.</p><p>Trump was convicted in New York in May of falsifying business records to cover up a sex scandal in the final stages of the 2016 campaign, making him the first former US president ever convicted of a crime.</p><p>His sentencing will take place on July 11.</p><p>By filing a blizzard of pre-trial motions, Trump&#x27;s lawyers have managed to put on hold the three other trials, which deal with his attempts to overturn the 2020 election and hoarding top-secret documents at his home in Florida.</p><p>If reelected, Trump could, once sworn in as president in January 2025, order the federal cases against him closed.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LY9uTobIfnE?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>The US Supreme Court ruled Monday that Donald Trump enjoys some immunity from prosecution as a former president, a ruling that may delay his trial for conspiring to overturn the 2020 election.</p>

The US Supreme Court ruled Monday that Donald Trump enjoys some immunity from prosecution as a former president, a ruling that may delay his trial for conspiring to overturn the 2020 election.

Supreme Court says Trump has some immunity, further delaying trial

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Supreme Court says Trump has some immunity, further delaying trial

Agence France-Presse

Published Jul 01, 2024 11:19 PM PHT

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Updated Jul 02, 2024 06:41 AM PHT

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