In a televised statement late Monday, President Biden said, “This nation was founded on the principle that there is no king 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's ruling makes it clear that there are virtually no limits to what the president can do.
“The man who sent that mob into the U.S. Capitol is potentially facing criminal charges for what happened that day. The American people deserve answers in court before the upcoming election.
Mr. Biden noted that President Trump is on trial for inciting the riot.
“Today’s ruling makes that very unlikely to happen,” Biden said.
Following the Supreme Court’s ruling, the justices will now have to decide what Trump did as president, a process that could take months. It’s unlikely any trial will begin before the November 5 election.
This would be a huge boost for Donald Trump, a “big win,” as he put it on his social media platform, Truth Social.
The Supreme Court has ruled that all former presidents have partial immunity from criminal prosecution. Full immunity applies to acts performed as part of the president's official duties, but not to “unofficial acts” performed in a private capacity.
Lower court judges will now have to decide which aspects of the president’s conduct are relevant to a criminal prosecution for allegedly trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
Trump is accused of inciting the riot at the U.S. Capitol with tweets and comments on January 6, 2021. But a court ruled that his speech and social media activity that day were official acts.
The Supreme Court's three liberal justices strongly dissented. Justice Sonia Sotomayor said, “The president is now king, above the law.”
The White House press secretary relayed President Biden's view that “no one is above the law.”
Democratic Rep. Judy Chu said the court's decision would have far-reaching ramifications.
“This is a victory for Donald Trump, and a real blow to American democracy. The implications of this decision are overwhelming. When the president says in his official capacity that he is going to do something that we consider inappropriate and criminal, he is immune from the actions he takes,” she said.
The court's 6-3 ruling, a landmark decision split along party lines, did not dismiss the charges against the former president but would significantly delay a trial, if it proceeds, until well after the November election.
The ruling would also apply to other pending criminal cases facing Donald Trump, including one involving secret documents found at his home in Florida and another in which he is accused of trying to overturn an election he narrowly lost in Georgia.
According to BBC news partner CBS, President Trump's legal team is seeking to overturn his conviction in New York in a case in which he was convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection with an alleged sexual relationship with former adult film star Stormy Daniels.
CBS, citing a source familiar with the matter, reported that Trump’s legal team sent a letter to the judge in the case about the effort and cited the Supreme Court’s opinion. The letter in the case has not yet been made public.
The New York Times first reported these details.
The case is one of four facing President Trump.
