Washington — President Biden The Supreme Court’s landmark ruling Former President Donald Trump will be immune from prosecution for official acts taken while in office, meaning there are “virtually no limits to what the president can do,” he said.
“This is a fundamentally new doctrine and a dangerous precedent, because the power of the office will no longer be limited by law, including the Supreme Court of the United States,” Mr. Biden said Monday in a brief speech at the White House. “The only limits will be those imposed by the president himself.”
Mr Biden said the decision meant that “any president, including Donald Trump, now has a free hand to ignore the law.”
The Supreme Court’s decision was made along ideological lines, with six Republican-appointed justices concluding that former presidents have broad legal protections from prosecution for alleged acts committed in the course of their official duties. But the Supreme Court Trump’s claims were rejected He has absolute immunity unless he is impeached by the House and convicted by the Senate.
The decision effectively ends the possibility that Trump could be tried before the November election on charges that he conspired to overturn his 2020 election loss to Biden.
The Supreme Court has directed the Washington district judge overseeing the election case to investigate whether Trump’s actions detailed in the indictment were official or unofficial.
“The public deserves answers about what happened on January 6th before they are asked to vote again this year. Today’s decision makes that very, very unlikely. This is a terrible disservice to the people of this country,” Biden said.
“Now the American people must do what the courts were willing to do but were not willing to do,” he continued. “The American people must pass judgment on Donald Trump’s actions. The American people must decide whether Donald Trump’s attack on our democracy on January 6th makes him unfit for public office, the highest office in our country. The American people must decide whether Trump’s embrace of violence to stay in power is acceptable.”
The president declined to take any questions after his statement.
Mr. Biden’s campaign said Monday that the immunity ruling “does not change the facts” about the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol.
“Donald Trump was furious after losing the 2020 election and incited a mob to overturn the results of a free and fair election,” the campaign said in a statement, accusing Trump of “growing more agitated” since then.