- Author, Peter Bowes
- Role, BBC North America Correspondent
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Joe Biden called the Supreme Court’s decision granting former President Donald Trump partial immunity from criminal prosecution a “dangerous precedent.”
The current US president said the ruling undermined “the rule of law” and was a “terrible disservice” to Americans.
Earlier, Trump hailed the court’s decision as a “great victory” for democracy.
The justices ruled Monday that a president enjoys immunity for “official acts” but not for “unofficial acts” and sent the case back to a lower court judge.
The ruling will further delay the criminal case against Trump for allegedly trying to subvert the outcome of the 2020 election that handed Mr. Biden victory.
The judge must now determine what actions Trump took as president, a process that could take months. A trial is unlikely to begin before the November presidential election.
In a televised statement Monday night, President Biden said: “This nation was founded on the principle that there are no kings in America. Each of us is equal before the law. No one, no one is above the law. Not even the president of the United States.”
“Today [court] This decision almost certainly means that there are virtually no limits to what a president can do.
“The man who sent this mob to the Capitol faces criminal charges for what happened that day. The American people deserve to have an answer in court before the next election.”
Mr Biden was referring to Trump’s trial for his alleged role in inciting the riots.
“Now, because of today’s day [court] “This decision is highly, highly unlikely,” Mr. Biden said.
Following the Supreme Court’s decision, the judge must now determine what actions Trump took as president, a process that could take months. A trial is unlikely to begin before the Nov. 5 election.
This is a huge boost for Donald Trump – a “big win,” as he declared on his social media platform Truth Social.
The Supreme Court has ruled that all former presidents enjoy partial immunity from criminal prosecution – full immunity applies to acts performed in the president’s official capacity, but “unofficial acts,” in a private capacity, are not covered.
A trial judge will now have to decide which aspects of the president’s behavior are relevant to the criminal prosecution in which he is accused of trying to overturn the outcome of the 2020 election.
The Supreme Court’s majority opinion held that his interactions with the Department of Justice (DoJ) were immune from prosecution.
In his indictment, Trump is accused of pressuring Justice Department officials to launch investigations into election fraud despite a lack of evidence.
All three liberal justices on the Supreme Court dissented from Monday’s decision. Justice Sonia Sotomayor said, “The president is now a king above the law.”
Democratic Rep. Judy Chu said the consequences of the court’s decision would be far-reaching.
“If a president says, in his official capacity, that he wants to do something that we consider to be inappropriate and criminal, he could be immune from the actions that he takes,” she said.
The court’s decision, taken by a vote of 6-3, will significantly delay any trial – if it takes place – until well after the November election.
The ruling will also apply to other ongoing criminal charges against Trump related to top-secret documents found at his Florida home and to the Georgia case in which he is accused of conspiring to overturn his narrow election loss in the state.
Trump’s legal team sent the judge in charge of the case a letter related to the move and citing the Supreme Court opinion, CBS reported, citing a source familiar with the matter. The letter related to the case has not yet been made public.
The New York Times was the first to report these details.
The case is one of four Trump faces.
