The Supreme Court postpones Donald Trump’s federal trial in the Capitol assault case

Donald Trump had applied to the Supreme Court, claiming total immunity in the investigation into the assault on the Capitol by some of his supporters on 6 January 2021. The Court granted him “presumptive immunity for his official acts”. On Monday 1 July, the US Supreme Court, dominated by conservative judges, referred the question of Donald Trump’s criminal immunity to the lower courts, thereby postponing his federal trial in Washington.

By a vote of six to three, the majority conservative justices determined that “the President enjoys no immunity for his unofficial acts”, while asserting that he “is entitled to at least a presumption of immunity for his official acts”.

Donald Trump, in the midst of campaigning for a return to the White House, was quick to hail the ruling as a “great victory” for democracy.

No absolute immunity

By deciding on 28 February to take up this issue and scheduling the proceedings almost three months later, the Supreme Court had already considerably delayed the federal trial of the former president for attempting to reverse the results of the 2020 election, won by Joe Biden. The trial, initially scheduled to start on 4 March, has now been postponed indefinitely.

During the debates, the judges were sceptical about the absolute immunity claimed by Donald Trump. Some, particularly among the conservative justices, emphasised the long-term repercussions of their decision. “We are writing a rule for posterity”, said Neil Gorsuch, while Brett Kavanaugh stressed the “enormous implications for the future of the presidency and the country”.

Legal proceedings under way

Donald Trump, who is the target of four separate criminal proceedings, is trying to delay his judgments as long as possible, ideally until after the presidential election. On 30 May, he was found guilty by a New York court of “aggravated accounting falsification to conceal a conspiracy to pervert the 2016 election”. He will be sentenced on 11 July. However, this first criminal conviction could be the only one before the presidential election, given the numerous appeals filed by his lawyers.

The other trials, at federal level for withholding classified documents after he left the White House and in the courts of the key state of Georgia for electoral interference in 2020, have been postponed until further notice. If Donald Trump is re-elected, he could order a halt to the federal proceedings against him once he is inaugurated in January 2025.