The News Not Noise Letter: Supreme Court Stunner
The Supreme Court’s bombshell ruling gives presidents broad immunity from criminal prosecution – we break down what it means. Plus: Biden holds firm, Bannon goes to jail, and Beryl breaks records.
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We’re just going to put this out there: It’s been a really good few weeks for former President Donald Trump. Judge Cannon has been slow-mo’ing his classified documents case. Judge Merchan waived parts of Trump’s New York gag order. The Georgia election interference case is going nowhere fast. Trump won the first presidential debate merely by putting together semi-coherent sentences. And today the Supreme Court handed the former president a major victory in his quest for immunity from prosecution in the January 6th/election subversion case. We will dig into it. First, your headlines.
Here are your headlines:
Biden’s Big Decision: President Biden and the Biden/Harris campaign team are ignoring the haters and projecting determination to stay in the race. There’s finger-pointing – blaming the debate prep team, CNN, and even the makeup artist for making his powder too white – and assertions that it was one bad night. A new campaign ad declares, “When you get knocked down, you get back up” (which reminds me of the old LifeAlert ad: “Help, I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!”).
My reporting: The Democratic political world is deeply divided. Those who want Biden to drop insist that party power-brokers can smooth a way to nominating a centrist ticket that will inspire the disaffected, unify Democrats, and slay Trump. Those who want Biden to remain the nominee warn that the race to replace Biden/Harris would cause “total party chaos” and be “an act of political suicide.”
Watching the Numbers: A new CBS poll shows a 7 point post-debate increase in the number of voters who think Biden does not have the mental capacity to be commander-in-chief. On the other hand, 55% of Democrats think he should still run for president. Party insiders will be obsessively monitoring the polls for changes in the coming days.
Bannon Behind Bars: Former Trump aide Steve Bannon reported to prison today, beginning his 4-month sentence for contempt of Congress. His release is scheduled just days before the election.
Hurricane Beryl: The earliest Category 4 hurricane on record made landfall today in the Caribbean. Meteorologists are closely monitoring Beryl’s projected path.
French Elections: In the first round of France’s national elections, the once-fringe far-right National Rally party surged to the top of the polls. In runoff elections this Sunday, voters will determine how much control the party will gain in parliament.
Immunity Ruling:
Today in a stunning and historic 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that former US presidents have far more immunity from criminal prosecution than previously understood. In Trump v. United States, the justices established different degrees of immunity for presidential actions, depending on how essential the activity in question is to the core function of the presidency:
Absolute Immunity: There is “absolute immunity” for activities related to a president’s “core constitutional powers” (i.e., actions directly described in Article II of the Constitution).
Some Immunity: A former president is “also entitled to immunity” for “his remaining official actions.” SCOTUS didn’t define what this means, so lower courts will have to work that out.
No Immunity: “There is no immunity” for a president’s “unofficial actions.”
The Court also ruled that an ex-president’s official actions may not be used as evidence by prosecutors in a criminal case.
The Argument: Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts said that immunity is necessary to prevent an ex-president from being targeted with endless political prosecutions. He feared this would allow “an Executive Branch that cannibalizes itself, with each successive President free to prosecute his predecessors, yet unable to boldly and fearlessly carry out his duties for fear that he may be next.” Roberts took pains to emphasize that “the President is not above the law,” and that presidential “immunity applies equally to all occupants of the Oval Office, regardless of politics, policy, or party.”
The Dissent: In a scathing dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor warned, “the President is now a king above the law.” Sotomayor even imagined that in the event a president “Orders the Navy’s Seal Team 6 to assassinate a political rival? Immune. Organizes a military coup to hold onto power? Immune. Takes a bribe in exchange for a pardon? Immune. Immune, immune, immune…” She concluded, “With fear for our democracy, I dissent.”
The Trump Jan 6 Case:
The Court ruled on specific aspects of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s January 6th case against former President Trump. The majority decided that Trump’s conversations with Justice Department officials are official acts. Therefore Trump cannot be prosecuted for pressuring the DOJ to throw out the results of the 2020 election (nor any work he did with friendly DOJ officials to try to get others to throw out results). The Court said the trial judge will have to sort out the rest of the case.
All Eyes on Judge Chutkan: Judge Tanya Chutkan, an Obama appointee, must now determine which allegations in the Jan 6 indictment were official and which were unofficial acts. These include: