Source:Brokerage China.

Author: Shi Qian.

When it rains, it pours!

According to CCTV News, on July 1, local time, the US federal Supreme Court issued a final ruling on former US President Trump's request for immunity from prosecution as president.

On the same day, the US Supreme Court ruled by a vote of 6 to 3 that Trump can enjoy criminal immunity for some of the actions he took when his term as president is about to end, but he cannot be exempt from prosecution for actions taken as a private citizen. Trump said it was a great victory.

After the TV debate, Biden's popularity plummeted. Last weekend, there were rumors that Biden withdrew from the election, which has yet to be confirmed, but it is good news for Trump. This can be said to be a huge bearish for Biden. Previously, Trump still had the burden of criminal proceedings, but now he has no worries. It can be said that if the Democratic Party did not come up with a dark horse, Trump would have been unbeatable.

What is interesting is that the Federal Supreme Court has nine justices, six of whom are conservatives and three are liberals. Three of the conservatives were nominated by Trump during his presidency.

Trump's Victory.

On July 1st local time, Chief Justice John Roberts overturned the lower court's ruling by a vote of 6 to 3. The lower court's ruling rejected Trump's federal criminal immunity claim to reverse his loss to Joe Biden in the 2020 election. The majority of six conservative justices opposed the three liberal justices.

Roberts said, "Our conclusion is that under the Constitution's structure of the separation of powers, the nature of the President's power requires that a former President enjoy some degree of immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts taken during his term." As for the former president's "core constitutional powers," the immunity is "absolute" and the former president enjoys "at least presumptive immunity" for "his official acts."

The ruling said that the president is not above the law, but when exercising his core constitutional powers, he should not be subject to prosecution, and his "official acts" should enjoy the presumption of immunity, which does not apply to "non-official acts". However, the Supreme Court did not define what constitutes "official acts" in this situation, and instead sent Trump's immunity case back to a lower court to assess which of his actions can be exempt from criminal prosecution.

Three liberal justices dissented from the majority opinion. They believe the ruling is a mockery of the fundamental principle that no one in the American Constitution and government system should be above the law, and effectively gives former President Trump "the immunity he requested and more."

After the final ruling of the US Supreme Court was announced, Trump posted on his social media platform "Real Social", saying, "This is a great victory for our Constitution and democracy."

Biden's Pressure.

It must be said that as long as he is not in a debate, Biden's thinking process is still clear.

After the ruling of the Supreme Court was issued, Biden immediately condemned it. In a speech at the White House, Biden said, "America has no king. Everyone is equal before the law. No one can be above the law, even the president of the United States."

"With today's decision, the nature of presidential power has changed fundamentally. In fact, the president's power is almost unrestricted. This is a new principle and a dangerous precedent, because the president's power will no longer be subject to the law, including the US Supreme Court."

Biden warned repeatedly that the limit of presidential power now depends entirely on the president himself and his choices. He said Trump as president would be a dangerous figure.

This political speech comes at a crucial moment in Biden's campaign as he tries to dispel concerns about his age, which were exacerbated by his performance in last week's presidential debate. His unstable performance has caused anxiety among some top donors and raised uncomfortable questions for Democrats about whether he should remain on their candidate list, let alone in the White House for another four years.

In Monday's speech, Biden appeared astute and energetic as he read from the teleprompter in the White House Cross Hall. But he didn't take any questions and left immediately after his five-minute remarks.

Biden said,"I know that I will respect the limits of presidential power that I have had for 3 and a half years ,but any president, including Donald Trump, can freely disregard the law now." Protecting democracy has always been a core principle of Biden's campaign, and he described this decision as the Supreme Court undermining"a series of long-established legal principles" and implicitly outlined the interests at stake in the presidential election regarding decisions about voting rights and civil liberties.

Biden mentioned the January 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol and called it "one of the darkest days in America's history." He said the court's decision makes it less likely that Trump will be prosecuted before the election on criminal charges related to that unrest.

Technically, the court's decision allows special prosecutor Jack Smith to continue his case against Trump for election subversion, but leaves many unresolved technical issues - making it increasingly unlikely that the trial will take place before the November election. Smith's case now goes back to a lower court, which must review the specific steps taken by Trump to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

Editor/Emily