WSJ editorial argues Supreme Court immunity ruling 'will serve as a restraint' on Trump
As pundits, legal experts, former prosecutors, and lawmakers openly fear the downfall of democracy following the Supreme Court's ruling on presidential immunity, The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board on Friday boldly claimed the ruling doesn't help former President Donald Trump, it restrains him.
The board slammed what it called the "cognitive dissonance of our progressive friends" who "shout with alarm" that the decision "removed all legal restraints on a future Trump presidency."
"Far from empowering an imperial Trump Presidency, the Court’s decisions this term will serve as a restraint," the board argued.
The "real reason Democrats are incensed: They'd rather "rule by executive-branch technocrats."
"They mistrust Americans and their representatives. Members of Congress aren’t paragons of virtue, but neither are the experts, as the pandemic showed," the board said.
The Supreme Court on Monday ruled on Trump's motion to dismiss federal cases against him due to his absolute immunity as president. Their 6-3 decision has been criticized as handing Trump a get-out-of-jail-free card, with MSNBC legal analyst Lisa Rubin claiming the devil was in the details — and the ruling was even worse than initially reported.
Read also: Trump's immunity win will 'backfire' on him in November: CNN analyst
The ruling led President Joe Biden to warn in a speech this week that “any President, including Donald Trump, will now be free to ignore the law.”
The Supreme Court laid down “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. The only limits will be self-imposed by the President alone," said Biden.
The Journal board issued a message for pearl-clutchers who think the president is now a King above the law: "None of this is true."
The president, the board said, is immune from criminal prosecution for core presidential duties in the constitution and presumptive immunity for other official acts. However, the president is not shielded from prosecution for things done in private.
"So Mr. Trump wouldn’t be free to shoot someone on Fifth Avenue," the board said.
It does, the board argued, protect presidents from partisan prosecutors, citing Chief Justice John Roberts' writing that, "Without immunity, such types of prosecutions of ex-Presidents could quickly become routine."
"The Court’s ruling will prevent a future Trump Justice Department from seeking retribution against Mr. Biden by prosecuting him for, say, obstructing immigration enforcement or forgiving student debt," the board wrote on Friday.