Supreme Court's immunity ruling likely to 'hurt' or 'hamstring' Georgia case: expert
Donald Trump is still staring down the barrel of several criminal federal and state cases despite the Supreme Court ruling that presidents are immune from prosecution for official acts, but not private acts.
And yet legal experts say it's going to be tricky for Fulton Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee to discern which of the remaining counts brought against Trump fall under official and off-the-commander-in-chief's clock.
“I think this does hurt the Georgia case quite a lot,” Atlanta defense attorney Andrew Fleischman told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “There’s not much clear guidance at all. I think Georgia courts will likely also have to apply this novel analysis, and that creates a lot of opportunity for delay.”
He continued: "You’ve got the potential to really hamstring this case."
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The historic 6-3 ruling was dominated by the conservative majority of justices — three of whom were appointed by Trump.
It ruled that Trump couldn't be “prosecuted for conduct within his exclusive constitutional authority” and that includes interacting with members of his executive branch and the Justice Department.
Because the President cannot be prosecuted for conduct within his exclusive constitutional authority, Trump is absolutely immune from prosecution for the alleged conduct involving his discussions with Justice Department officials.
The decision also comes after the court last week determined that federal authorities overstepped by tacking on an obstruction charge to several hundred MAGA supporters who laid siege on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Former federal prosecutor John Malcolm, who also serves as vice president of the Heritage Foundation’s Institute for Constitutional Government, told the Journal-Constitution that Monday's decision by the high court will make the Georgia state case and the federal election subversion cases “much, much, much more complicated.”
“The court also made it very clear that the thumb is on the scale in terms of concluding that these are official acts, that it’s the prosecution that bears the burden of demonstrating that these are not official acts,” said Malcolm.
Questions remain as to whether the judge will figure out which charges fall under the president's official duties.
Moreover, McAfee must sort out whether Trump’s attempts to pressure then-Vice President Mike Pence to stymie the counting of the election results in Congress was a presidential action or a private design.
The Georgia subversion case remains at a stand-still while the Georgia Court of Appeals issued a stay as its judges determine whether Willis should be ousted from prosecuting the case due to allegations she carried on an affair with her consultant Nathan Wade and had to defend against accusations that they dipped into his six-figure taxpayer salary to take lavish trips to California's wine country to the Caribbean.
When reached by the outlet, the Fulton DA’s office declined to comment.