“Today’s Supreme Court decision on Donald Trump’s immunity claim is far worse than anything I imagined, effectively giving a president immunity for any crimes committed while in office, as long as that president can plausibly claim the action was taken in some form of official capacity,” Schiff said. “It must now be presumed that the president, as king, is immune from accountability. Under this ruling, a president can order the assassination or jailing of their political rival and be immune. ... They can organize a military coup to hold on to power and still be immune. If that sounds mad, that’s because it is.”

During arguments in the case, Trump’s lawyers were asked if an ex-president could be prosecuted for ordering the military to “stage a coup” to keep him in office or instructing a Navy SEAL to kill a political rival. In response, the lawyer said that would appear to be an official action under the president’s power as commander in chief of the armed forces.

In his opinion, Roberts cited the president’s power over the military as coming within “the exclusive constitutional authority of the president.” He said the law “may not criminalize the president’s actions” in this area.

Jackson pointed to that passage as a concern.

“Even a hypothetical president who admits to having ordered the assassinations of his political rivals or critics, or one who indisputably instigates an unsuccessful coup, has a fair shot at getting immunity,” she said. “Regardless of the nature or the impact of the president’s criminal conduct, so long as he is committing crimes ‘pursuant to the powers invested exclusively in him by the Constitution,’ or as needed ‘to carry out his constitutional duties without undue caution,’ he is likely to be deemed immune from prosecution.”

At the start of the year, the Supreme Court faced three major issues involving Trump and the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol. It has now ruled for Trump’s side on all three.

In March, the court ruled that Trump could not be removed from the ballot for having “engaged in insurrection,” in violation of the 14th Amendment.

Last week, it said his most fervent supporters could not be prosecuted under a financial accounting law for “obstructing” Congress as it met to certify Biden’s victory in the 2020 election.

And now the court has largely agreed with Trump’s immunity claim.

“This decision will give Donald Trump cover to do exactly what he’s been saying he wants to for months: enact revenge and retribution against his enemies,” said Quentin Fulks, deputy manager for the Biden-Harris campaign. “They just handed Donald Trump the keys to a dictatorship. The Supreme Court just gave Trump a permission slip to assassinate and jail whoever he wants to gain power.”

...continued

©2024 Los Angeles Times. Visit at latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.