President Biden on Monday assailed as a dangerous precedent the Supreme Court’s decision to grant former President Donald Trump immunity from criminal prosecution for his official actions as president.
In a hastily scheduled White House speech, Mr. Biden said the decision makes the president equal to a king. He pledged to respect the limits of presidential power but warned that Mr. Trump now has unchecked power.
“Today’s decision almost certainly means that there are no limits on what a president can do. This is a fundamentally new principle and it’s a dangerous precedent because the power of the office will no longer be constrained by the law, even including the Supreme Court of the United States,” he said.
“The only limits will be self-imposed by the president alone,” he said, saying the decision undermines the rule of law.
In a 6-3 decision issued along ideological lines, the Court narrowed special counsel Jack Smith’s indictment of Mr. Trump, including allegations that he sought to weaponize the Justice Department to amplify claims of voter fraud.
The case now heads back to the trial court to determine what should remain in the case against Mr. Trump since it cannot include his official acts as president.
At the trial level, a federal judge must now determine what acts Mr. Trump took in his capacity as president, or ‘official acts,” from private ones such as acting as a presidential candidate.
That is expected to delay the case for months and likely past Election Day.
Mr. Biden said the American people have a right to know what happened on Jan. 6, 2021, in which a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol, and he lamented that the Supreme Court decision means the public may never find answers.
“The public has a right to know the answer about what happened on Jan. 6, before they are asked to vote again this year. Now because of today’s decision, that is highly, highly unlikely. It’s a terrible disservice to the people of this nation,” Mr. Biden said.
He called on voters to reject Mr. Trump at the ballot box, saying the former president’s “embrace of violence to preserve his power is unacceptable.”
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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