Former President Donald Trump misrepresented in a social media post Tuesday what the U.S. Supreme Court’s Monday ruling on presidential immunity means for his civil and criminal cases.
“TOTAL EXONERATION!” he wrote in the post on his Truth Social platform. “It is clear that the Supreme Court’s brilliantly written and historic decision ENDS all of Crooked Joe Biden’s witch hunts against me, including the WHITE HOUSE AND DOJ INSPIRED CIVIL HOAXES in New York.”
But none of Trump’s pending cases have been dismissed as a result of the ruling, nor have any of the judgments already against him been overturned. The ruling is a significant victory for the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, whose legal strategy has focused on delaying legal proceedings until after the 2024 election.
Here are the facts examined in more detail.
CLAIM: The Supreme Court’s ruling that former presidents enjoy broad immunity from prosecution represents a “complete exoneration” for former President Donald Trump.
THE FACTS: While the historic 6-3 verdict is a victory for Trump, he is not yet acquitted, and his legal troubles are far from over. A delay in his trial in Washington on election interference charges has been extended indefinitely as a result. He also still faces charges in two other criminal cases, and the sentences already handed down against him in a criminal case and a civil case have not been overturned.
Barbara McQuade, a University of Michigan law professor and former prosecutor for the state’s Eastern District, told The Associated Press that Trump’s claim is “incorrect for a number of reasons.”
“The court ruled immunity from prosecution, not acquittal,” she wrote in an email. “The court did not say that Trump’s conduct was not criminal conduct. Only that prosecutors should not prosecute him for it because of the special role of a president and the need to allow him to make ‘courageous’ and ‘fearless’ decisions without concern for criminal consequences.”
McQuade wrote that Trump’s case over classified documents found at his Mar-a-Lago estate would not be affected because it arose from conduct committed after he left the White House. She added that any impact on his hush-money trial in New York “seems unlikely” since the crimes were committed in a private capacity.
“Moreover, the Court’s ruling is focused solely on immunity for criminal conduct,” McQuade continued, explaining that it will not shield him from civil liability in his cases involving defamatory statements about the advice columnist E.Jean Carroll or fraudulent business practices at the Trump Organization.
Trump’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Supreme Court’s conservative majority said that former presidents have absolute immunity from prosecution for official acts that fall within their “exclusive sphere of constitutional authority” and are presumptively entitled to immunity for all official acts. Unofficial or private acts are exempt from such immunity.
This means that Special Counsel Jack Smith cannot move forward with the key allegations in his indictment accusing Trump of plotting to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss. At the very least, he must defend their use in future proceedings before the trial judge.
The case has not been dismissed. Instead, it has been sent back to U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who must now “carefully analyze” whether other allegations involve official conduct for which the president would be immune from prosecution. The trial was supposed to begin in March but has been on hold since December to allow Trump to continue his appeal to the Supreme Court.
However, the judges threw out one aspect of the complaint, ruling that Trump is “absolutely immune” from prosecution for alleged conduct involving conversations with the Justice Department.
The opinion also found that Trump is “at least presumptively immune” from allegations that he tried to pressure Vice President Mike Pence on Jan. 6, 2021, to refuse to certify Democrat Joe Biden’s election victory. But prosecutors can try to argue that Trump’s pressure on Pence can still be part of the case against him, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote.
The ruling almost certainly means Trump will not stand trial in Washington before the 2024 election. The case is expected to drag on for months due to the need for further investigation, amid legal wrangling over whether the actions in the indictment were official or unofficial, AP reported.
Trump is facing charges in two other criminal cases, one over his alleged interference in the 2020 Georgia election and the other over secret documents found at his Mar-a-Lago estate after he left the White House. Trump’s lawyers have invoked presidential immunity in both cases, but no verdict has been reached in either case.
The former president was convicted of 34 felonies in May at his hush-money trial in New York. After Monday’s ruling, the New York judge presiding over the trial delayed Trump’s sentencing until at least September and agreed to weigh the impact of the decision on presidential immunity.
Trump was ordered in February to pay a $454 million fine as part of a civil fraud case alleging he lied about his wealth for years as he built the real estate empire that propelled him to fame and the White House. The case is still under appeal.
In May 2023, a jury found Trump liable for sexually assaulting Carroll in 1996 and defaming her over the allegations, awarding her $5 million. Carroll was awarded an additional $83.3 million by a separate jury in January for Trump’s ongoing social media attacks against her. An appeal of the initial decision was denied in April. The latter case is still on appeal.
___
Find AP Fact Checks here: https://apnews.com/APFactCheck.
