The conservative-majority US Supreme Court on Monday referred the question of Donald Trump’s criminal immunity as ex-president to lower courts, further delaying his federal trial in Washington.
By six votes to three, those of the six conservative judges against the three progressives, the Court considers that “the president does not enjoyno immunity for his unofficial acts” but that he “has the right at least to a presumption of immunity for his official acts”.
The procedure postponed
Donald Trump, campaigning to return to the White House, immediately welcomed a “great victory” for democracy. By deciding on February 28 to take up this question, then by scheduling the debates almost three months later, the highest court of the United States had already considerably postponed the federal trial of the former Republican president for attempted‘illegally reverse the results of the 2020 election won by Joe Biden.
The entire procedure for this trial, initially scheduled for March 4, and postponed indefinitely, had already been suspended for four months. During the debates, if the judges had generally shown themselves skeptics faced with the absolute immunity claimed by the Republican candidate, several, particularly among conservatives, had insisted on the long-term repercussions of their decision.
