The Supreme Court’s ruling this week granting presidents broad immunity from prosecution, which stemmed directly from one of the four criminal cases against former President Donald Trump, may effectively end the other three prosecutions Trump faces, experts believe.
In a historic 6-3 decision, the court’s conservative majority ruled that presidents and former presidents are immune from prosecution for anything considered an “official act” while in office. But the decision also extended “presumptive immunity” for “acts within the outer perimeter” of a president’s official responsibilities.
The opinion also declared that anything considered to be an official act couldn’t be used as evidence in trying to prove a president’s unofficial actions violated the law.
Taken together, all of these aspects of the ruling could strike down or severely limit all four of the criminal cases Trump has faced, and could make many, if not all, of the prosecutions against him impossible to continue.
