Biden warns Trump can do ‘whatever he pleases’ if elected as Republicans relish Supreme Court immunity ruling: Live updates

Former president’s battle to shield himself from criminal prosecution reaches its endgame

Donald Trump pushes for presidential immunity in six-minute video rant

Joe Biden slammed the Supreme Court for its ruling on Donald Trump’s immunity from criminal prosecution during an address to the nation from the White House on Monday evening.

“For all practical purposes, today’s decision almost certainly means that there are virtually no limits on what a president can do. This is a fundamentally new principle. And it’s a dangerous precedent,” said Biden.

Earlier, the court ruled that Trump is immune from criminal prosecution for official acts conducted during his time as president, but not “unofficial” acts. The ruling could have a huge impact on cases connected to his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

The former president’s defense has already been shot down by the federal judge overseeing the election interference case brought against him by special counsel Jack Smith, as well as by a unanimous panel of appeals court judges, the latter writing that Trump’s attempts to stay in power after losing the vote to Joe Biden four years ago represented “an unprecedented assault on the structure of our government.”

The court’s ruling will have profound consequences for holding former presidents accountable for crimes committed while occupying the White House.

But the court’s decision to take up the case – and to wait until the final day of its current session to issue a ruling – ensures that voters will not see a verdict in the case against Trump for unlawfully conspiring to overturn the last election before they cast their ballots in the next one this November.

Key Points

• Supreme Court awards Donald Trump some immunity from prosecution
• Trump says SCOTUS decision should end all cases against him
• Where do the cases against Trump stand now after SCOTUS ruling?
• ‘The President is now a king above the law’
• Decision makes ‘mockery’ of principle ‘that no man is above the law'

[1 July 2024 22:10 · Oliver O'Connell]

Raskin says SCOTUS decision underscores extent of erosion of democratic values

Democratic Rep Jamie Raskin, the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee says today’s Supreme Court decision “is a radical break from the rule of law which underscores how much our democratic values have been eroded and are on the line in November”.

Here’s his statement in full:

"Today, the Supreme Court took a bulldozer to the democratic credo that no one-including presidents and former presidents- is above the law. Three years ago, after Donald Trump's second impeachment trial, Mitch McConnell explained, 'We have a criminal justice system in this country... And former Presidents are not immune from being held accountable. But today, far-right justices embedded with the 'Stop the Steal' movement conferred broad immunity on Donald Trump, even going so far as to help him keep evidence of his criminal actions from coming to light in a court of law. Today's ruling, postponing any prosecution of Trump until after the election and holding that Presidents are presumptively immune from criminal prosecution for using their office to assassinate political rivals, organize a military coup, or take bribes, is a radical break from the rule of law which underscores how much our democratic values have been eroded and are on the line in November. Donald Trump has made it clear that, if he wins election, he will use his presidential powers to pardon all his co-conspirators and weaponize the Justice Department by firing career employees and replacing them with an army of sycophants willing to engage in retributive harassment against his political opponents. All of this would be presumably allowable under today's horrific decision."

[1 July 2024 21:50 · Oliver O'Connell]

Watch: Neal Katyal reacts to Sotomayor’s blistering dissent of immunity ruling

[1 July 2024 21:20 · Oliver O'Connell]

MAGA-world celebrates ‘big win’ over Supreme Court immunity ruling

Donald Trump and his allies are celebrating after the Supreme Court ruled that he may have some immunity from prosecution.

In a 6-3 decision released on Monday, the court ruled that former presidents have some immunity from criminal prosecution for “official” actions, meaning that Trump could dodge some charges for his alleged plot to overturn the result of the 2020 election.

However, the court conceded that “not everything the President does is official” and that “the President is not above the law.”

Martha McHardy reports.

[1 July 2024 21:12 · Oliver O'Connell]

Trump calls Supreme Court decision ‘brilliantly written and wise'

Donald Trump has posted one of his trademark all-caps posts on Truth Social in response to the Supreme Court’s decision on presidential immunity.

He wrote: “THE SUPREME COURT DECISION IS A MUCH MORE POWERFUL ONE THAN SOME HAD EXPECTED IT TO BE. IT IS BRILLIANTLY WRITTEN AND WISE, AND CLEARS THE STENCH FROM THE BIDEN TRIALS AND HOAXES, ALL OF THEM, THAT HAVE BEEN USED AS AN UNFAIR ATTACK ON CROOKED JOE BIDEN’S POLITICAL OPPONENT, ME. MANY OF THESE FAKE CASES WILL NOW DISAPPEAR, OR WITHER INTO OBSCURITY. GOD BLESS AMERICA!”

[1 July 2024 21:00 · Oliver O'Connell]

Watch: Schiff says court decision is ‘dangerous, anti-democratic, and unprecedented'

Rep Adam Schiff — now running for the Senate in California — says the Supreme Court’s decision is “dangerous, anti-democratic, and unprecedented”.

[1 July 2024 20:45 · Oliver O'Connell]

SCOTUS avoids ruling in battle over social media moderation

The Supreme Court on Monday ordered lower courts to take another look at a set of content moderation laws in Florida and Texas that were designed to protect conservative speech on social media platforms.

In a unanimous decision, the justices punted the social media moderation cases back to the lower courts, finding that they failed to properly analyze First Amendment challenges to the laws.

For now, social media companies can continue to regulate speech posted on platforms as usual.

Ariana Baio reports.

[1 July 2024 20:30 · Alex Woodward]

Might the evidence against Trump still be presented even if trial schedule is derailed?

Matthew Seligman, a constitutional scholar and a lawyer who argued in support of Jack Smith’s gag order request in the Mar-a-Lago case, said that as “challenging and really shocking this opinion is,” there are next steps.

Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is presiding over the federal case against Donald Trump regarding election interference, will next determine if most of the allegations in the indictment are “official” actions or not.

“It’s an opinion that says ‘we still have to see and the district court still has to decide,’” he said.

That will effectively be a “mini-trial” with fact-finding and evidence, including Trump testifying, Seligman said.

“It slows things down” and “it’s a poor, poor substitute for an actual trial that puts on the issue of guilt and innocence,” he says, “but it is an opportunity to bring much of this evidence to light so the American people can see some of the former president’s crimes.”

Norm Eisen says Judge Tanya Chutkan should set out a schedule for those hearings imminently.

[1 July 2024 20:15 · Oliver O'Connell]

‘Americans should be scared’

President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign has shifted into a full-court press against Donald Trump in response to the incumbent’s disastrous debate performance last week.

On a press call Monday, Biden campaign surrogates including former Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn, Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, and deputy campaign manager Quentin Fulks warned that American democracy would disappear in November if Democrats and concerned Americans did not rally behind the president. The call was organized in response to the Supreme Court’s decision granting Trump and all US presidents limited immunity from prosecution for official acts. It also appears to be in response to newfound concerns from his own party that Biden isn’t a strong enough candidate to win the presidential election.

Notably, the Biden campaign team only took questions from four journalists on the call, only one of whom was a White House beat reporter.

John Bowden and Andrew Feinberg report from Washington, DC.

[1 July 2024 20:05 · Oliver O'Connell]

Supreme Court liberal justices denounce ‘nightmare’ immunity ruling

The Supreme Court’s three liberal justices have warned that their conservative colleagues have turned the president into “a king above the law” after they granted Donald Trump some immunity from criminal prosecution.

Monday’s decision radically and dangerously reshapes the presidency and “makes a mockery” of the Constitution and the idea that “no man is above the law,” according to a furious dissenting opinion from Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

Alex Woodward reports.

[1 July 2024 19:55 · Oliver O'Connell]

J Michael Luttig, former judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, says the days of saying “no man is above the law” are over.

He posted on X: “It can never again be said that in America “no man is above the law.” The Supreme Court held today that the President of the United States — and the former president in particular — is above the law, and the only person in America who is above the law.”