The Democratic Party has decided to hold a hearing to question the Supreme Court’s decision broadly granting former President Donald Trump criminal immunity for his actions while in office. According to the political media outlet The Hill on the 9th, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) announced that he would hold a hearing on the 24th regarding the Supreme Court’s July 1 decision on the former president’s criminal immunity.
Chairman Durbin said, “Congress cannot turn a blind eye to the dangers posed by the Supreme Court’s decision to exempt Donald Trump from criminal liability,” and “We will emphasize the serious danger that this far-right ruling poses to the American people.” The Supreme Court ruled in a 6-3 vote that former presidents’ acts while in office “are absolutely immune from criminal prosecution if they are committed within the scope of their decisive and exclusive constitutional authority,” while other “official acts” are “presumed” to be immune, and that there is no immunity for “private (unofficial) acts.”
Former President Trump, who was criminally indicted four times on charges including attempting to overturn the 2020 presidential election results, leaking confidential information, and falsely stating company documents related to providing hush money to silence sexual harassment, has decisively reduced the “judicial risk” that has been cited as the biggest negative factor for the presidential election through this Supreme Court decision.
Above all, since it became necessary to determine whether the charges against former President Trump were related to “official acts,” it became virtually impossible for the trial on the charge of attempting to overturn the presidential election results to proceed before the presidential election on November 5. In addition, the court postponed the sentencing schedule for the case related to the hush money payment, which was scheduled to be sentenced in a New York state court on the 18th, to after the presidential election.
In addition, some argue that the Supreme Court’s decision could allow former President Trump to pursue controversial policies without fear of being punished after leaving office if he wins the election and returns to the White House in January.