The Supreme Court has dealt a crushing blow to Special Prosecutor Jack Smith and his case against former President Donald Trump.
On Friday, the court sent the case back to the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to continue proceedings, which effectively vacated U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan’s decision that denied immunity.
“On consideration whereof, it is ordered and adjudged by this Court that the judgment of the above court is vacated with costs, and the case is remanded to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit for further proceedings consistent with the opinion of this Court,” the Supreme Court document obtained by journalist Julie Kelly, who has been following the case, said.
“IT IS OFFICIAL. SCOTUS ruling in Trump v US sent back to DC appellate court. Both the DC circuit opinion and Judge Chutkan’s order denying presidential immunity from prosecution vacated. And Pres Trump gets some money back lol,” she said on X, formerly Twitter.
The high court also ordered that the former president be reimbursed $3,232.80 for costs that he incurred.
In July, the justices ruled 6-3 that a former president has absolute immunity for his core constitutional powers.
The Supreme Court has ruled that Trump cannot be prosecuted for actions he took as president if those actions were part of his official duties. However, he can be prosecuted for things he did that were not part of his job as president. The lower courts must carefully examine each action to determine whether it is official or not.
NBC News reported: “The Supreme Court is expected to soon hand down an opinion on whether Trump is immune from prosecution for some of the actions he took to try to overturn the 2020 election results.
The immunity ruling will be the last case of the day. The court handed down two other decisions first, one on Republican-backed state laws seeking to regulate social media platforms and the other on when companies can challenge federal agency rule-making.”
“Chief Justice John Roberts said Friday that today would be the last day of rulings in the current term.
In a ruling Friday, the justices said a lower court must decide whether a Jan. 6 rioter could be prosecuted on the charge that he obstructed an official proceeding by taking part in the attack on the U.S. Capitol — a decision that could have an effect on related cases, including Trumps,” the outlet added.
“The President enjoys no immunity for his unofficial acts, and not everything the President does is official,” the decision said. “The President is not above the law. But Congress may not criminalize the President’s conduct in carrying out the responsibilities of the Executive Branch under the Constitution. And the system of separated powers designed by the Framers has always demanded an energetic, independent Executive. The President therefore may not be prosecuted for exercising his core constitutional powers, and he is entitled, at a minimum, to a presumptive immunity from prosecution for all his official acts. That immunity applies equally to all occupants of the Oval Office, regardless of politics, policy, or party.”
The justices heard oral arguments in the case in late April. The question before the justices revolved around whether Trump can face criminal charges for allegedly conspiring to overturn the 2020 election results.
The court’s decision impacts Trump’s trial in Washington, D.C., presided over by U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, which was initially set for March 4 but is currently on hold, as well as the progress of his trials in Florida and Georgia, the SCOTUS blog noted.
Last summer, Trump was indicted on four counts stemming from Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into the January 6, 2021, attacks on the U.S. Capitol.
Trump, the indictment claims, created “widespread mistrust … through pervasive and destabilizing lies about election fraud” and then was engaged in three criminal conspiracies to target “a bedrock function of the United States federal government: the nation’s process of collecting, counting, and certifying the results of the presidential election.”
