The Supreme Court of the United States granted partial presidential immunity to Donald Trump during the trial for the assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021. The immunity, however, only concerns official acts, i.e. actions taken within the framework of its constitutional powers. On the other hand, with regard to private documents, the Supreme Court has established that the former American president does not benefit from immunity. The decision – arrived with six votes in favor, those of the conservative judges, and three against, those of the liberal judges – will therefore allow the trial to continue but with a certain slowdown, due precisely to the need for investigators to distinguish between the documents official and private.
This is the first time in US history that the Supreme Court has ruled that a former president can be protected from criminal charges in certain cases. “Great victory for our constitution and our democracy. Proud to be an American!” exults the former occupant of the White House, commenting on the judges' decision on his social network Truth. The opposite reaction from Joe Biden's campaign, according to which “today's decision does not change the facts”. Trump, recalls the American president's team, “encouraged a mob to overturn the results of a free and fair election” and “remained inert while the mob violently attacked the Capitol”. Donald Trump also remains accused in two other trials: one relating to the secret documents brought from the White House to his Mar-a-Lago villa and the other for the attempt to overturn the vote in Georgia.
Cover: Donald Trump at a campaign event in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, June 22, 2024 (EPA/Shawn Thew)
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