FACT FOCUS: Trump wasn’t exonerated by the presidential immunity ruling, even though he says he was
Former President Donald Trump misrepresented what the U.S. Supreme Court says in a social media post on Tuesday. Monday verdict about presidential immunity means for his civil and criminal cases.
“TOTAL EXONERATION!” he wrote in the post on his Truth Social platform. “It is clear that the Supreme Court’s brilliantly written and historic decision ENDS all of Crooked Joe Biden’s witch hunts against me, including the WHITE HOUSE AND DOJ INSPIRED CIVIL HOAXES in New York.”
But none of Trump’s pending cases have been dismissed as a result of the ruling, nor have any of the judgments already against him been overturned. The ruling is a significant victory for the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, whose legal strategy has focused on delaying legal proceedings until after the 2024 election.
Here are the facts examined in more detail.
CLAIM: The Supreme Court’s ruling that former presidents broad immunity from prosecution means “total acquittal” for former President Donald Trump.
THE FACTS: Although the historical 6-3 ruling is a victory for Trump, he has not been acquitted and his legal problems are far from over. A delay in his trial in Washington on charges of election interference has been extended indefinitely as a result. He has also still being sued in two other criminal cases, and the sentences already passed against him in a criminal case and a civil case have not been quashed.
Barbara McQuade, a University of Michigan law professor and former prosecutor for the state’s Eastern District, told The Associated Press that Trump’s claim is “incorrect for a number of reasons.”
“The court ruled immunity from prosecution, not acquittal,” she wrote in an email. “The court did not say that Trump’s conduct was not criminal conduct. Only that prosecutors should not prosecute him for it because of the special role of a president and the need to allow him to make ‘courageous’ and ‘fearless’ decisions without concern for criminal consequences.”
McQuade wrote that Trump’s case over classified documents found at his Mar-a-Lago estate would not be affected because it arose from conduct committed after he left the White House. She added that any impact on his hush-money trial in New York “seems unlikely” since the crimes were committed in a private capacity.
“Moreover, the Court’s opinion is focused solely on immunity for criminal conduct,” McQuade continued, explaining that it will not shield him from civil liability in his cases involving defamatory statements about advice columnist E. Jean Carroll or fraudulent business practices conducted at the Trump Organization.
Trump’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Supreme Court’s conservative majority said that former presidents have absolute immunity from prosecution for official acts that fall within their “exclusive sphere of constitutional authority” and are presumptively entitled to immunity for all official acts. Unofficial or private acts are exempt from such immunity.
This means that Special Prosecutor Jack Smith cannot move forward with key allegations in his case. indictment accusing Trump of a plot to overturn his loss in the 2020 presidential election, or at the very least, he must defend its use in future legal proceedings.
The case has not been dismissed. Instead, it has been sent back to U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who must now “carefully analyze” whether other allegations involve official conduct for which the president would be immune from prosecution. The trial was supposed to begin in March but has been on hold since December to allow Trump to continue his appeal to the Supreme Court.
However, the judges threw out one aspect of the complaint, ruling that Trump is “absolutely immune” from prosecution for alleged conduct involving conversations with the Justice Department.
The opinion also found that Trump is “at least presumptively immune” from allegations that he tried to pressure Vice President Mike Pence on Jan. 6, 2021, to refuse to certify Democrat Joe Biden’s election victory. But prosecutors can try to argue that Trump’s pressure on Pence can still be part of the case against him, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote.
The ruling almost certainly means Trump will not stand trial in Washington before the 2024 election, as the need for further analysis is expected to stall the case for months with legal wrangling over whether the actions in the indictment were official or unofficial. the AP has reported.
Trump is facing charges in two other criminal cases, one over his alleged interference in the 2020 Georgia election and the other over secret documents found at his Mar-a-Lago estate after he left the White House. Trump’s lawyers have invoked presidential immunity in both cases, but no ruling has been made on the issue in either case.
The former president was convicted in May of 34 crimes in his hush money trial in New York. After Monday’s verdict, the New York judge presiding over the trial said Trump’s sentencing postponed until at least September and agreed to consider the impact of the presidential immunity decision.
Trump was ordered in February to pay a fine of $454 million as part of a civil fraud case, for lying about his wealth for years as he built the real estate empire that propelled him to fame and the White House. It is still on appeal.
In May 2023, a jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse of Carroll in 1996 and for defaming her over the allegations, awarding her $5 million. Carroll was an additional $83.3 million in January by a separate jury for Trump’s ongoing social media attacks against her. An appeal of the earlier decision was rejected in April. The last case is still on appeal.
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Find AP Fact Checks here: https://apnews.com/APFactCheck.