By Steve Neavling
The Supreme Court will begin hearing oral arguments Thursday to determine whether Donald Trump is immune from prosecution for acts he committed in office.
Justices will ultimately decide whether the former president must face trial on charges that he tried to overturn the 2020 election.
A lot is at stake. Not only will the court determine the scope of presidential power, but it will help decide whether Trump’s trial begins before the November election.
Trump claims he has absolutely immunity from prosecution, a position that lower courts have rejected.
“Whatever immunities a sitting president may enjoy, the United States has only one chief executive at a time, and that position does not confer a lifelong ‘get-out-of-jail-free’ pass,” Judge Tanya S. Chutkan of the Federal District Court in Washington wrote late last year.
If the Supreme Court rejects Trump’s claims of absolute immunity, the conservative majority could still call for more limited protections and distinguish between official acts and private ones, The New York Times reports.
