(NewsNation) —The Supreme Court issued a ruling Monday saying presidents have immunity from official acts while in office but not as private citizens, leaving the question of whether former President Donald Trump can be indicted to the lower court which now has to parse out where his actions fell on Jan. 6, 2021 and other cases.
Trump’s case has been sent back to the trial court with instructions for Judge Tanya Chutkan to determine which actions in the indictment constitute official conduct and should be dropped from the case.
In their ruling, the court stated that “a former president is entitled to absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for actions within his “conclusive and preclusive constitutional authority,” the ruling says. “There is no immunity for unofficial acts.”
READ: Supreme Court ruling in Trump immunity case
The ruling also means that special prosecutor Jack Smith, who brought the case against Trump and prevailed in an appellate court, will likely have to refigure his arguments under the Supreme Court ruling.
Smith will need to present his arguments to prove they all fell under what the Supreme Court ruled as fair game.
Based on legal timelines, the process will take months likely taking past the November presidential election, where Trump is the presumed Republican nominee.
The ruling muddied the case as it’s arguable whether Trump, who was president on Jan. 6 undertook actions in his official capacity.
In her dissent, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson appeared to run through the process by which the legal system could decide whether a president has immunity.
“From the structure of the paradigm, it appears that the first decision point is whether the alleged criminal conduct involves one of the President’s ‘core’ powers,” Jackson wrote.
“If the crime is an official act, the President is presumptively immune from criminal prosecution and punishment,” Jackson added. “But even then, immunity still hinges on whether there is any legal or factual basis for concluding that the presumption of immunity has been rebutted. Alternatively, if the charged conduct is an unofficial act (a determination that, incidentally, courts must make without considering the President’s motivations, ante, at 18), the President is not immune.”
Trump took to his Truth Social platform to celebrate the ruling deeming it a “win.”
“Big win for our Constitution and democracy. Proud to be an American!” Trump wrote in all caps.
This is a developing story. Refresh this page for updates.
