Supreme Court set to rule Monday on Trump’s presidential immunity claims in federal election interference case

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court is set to rule Monday on whether former President Donald Trump has full presidential immunity that would protect him from prosecution for trying to overturn the 2020 election.

The judges left the high-profile case to make their final decision the day before the summer break. He was the last to argue this term.

Three other cases are scheduled to be heard Monday, two involving Republican-backed state laws aimed at regulating social media platforms and the other over when companies can challenge federal agencies’ rulemaking.

On Friday, the court ruled in a separate case related to the Jan. 6 criminal proceedings, but the narrow ruling is unlikely to have much impact on the former president’s criminal case.

In August 2023, special counsel Jack Smith charged Trump with engaging in three criminal conspiracies: “defrauding the United States by using dishonesty, fraud, and deception” to interfere with the electoral voting process; “obstructing the January 6 Congressional proceedings in which the collected results of the presidential election are counted and certified”; and working “against the right to vote and the right to have that vote counted.”

Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges. He claims the prosecutions are political and orchestrated by his opponents to prevent his attempt to return to power.

Trump has asked for the case to be dismissed, saying that because he was president at the time of the acts charged in the indictment, he is protected by “absolute immunity.” He has argued that his actions fall within the category of official acts that cannot be prosecuted.

The special prosecutor’s office countered that such official acts are subject to scrutiny by the criminal justice system.

During oral arguments, the court suggested it might send the case back to a lower court for hearings to determine whether his actions amount to official acts. Such a move would undoubtedly delay the case going to a jury before the November election.

In a separate case, Trump was convicted in May by a New York jury of falsifying business records related to payments to a porn star in the final days of the 2016 election. His sentence is expected to be pronounced on July 11.

Trump still faces charges in two other pending cases, including a case brought by Smith related to classified documents confiscated from him after he left office. Georgia Prosecutor Fani Willis also charged him in connection with the attempt to overturn the 2020 election, but that case was bogged down by accusations that she had a relationship with a prosecutor she hired to work with his office. Trump has also pleaded not guilty in those cases.