Thread by @JuddLegum

1. A lot of the coverage of yesterday's SCOTUS decision on presidential immunity focused on the impact on the charges against Trump

And that's important.

But what's even more important is how it fundamentally altered American democracy

🧵

2. The idea that the President is not above the law is directly embedded in the Constitution.

Article 1, Section 3 states that even if a President is IMPEACHED and CONVICTED, the President "shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law."

The Framers wanted to make clear that the law applied to the President just as it did to everyone else

3. In Federalist No. 69, Alexander Hamilton wrote that the President would be "liable to prosecution and punishment in the ordinary course of law." This, Hamilton wrote is the key distinction between the "King of England," who was "sacred and invulnerable," and the "President of the United States."

4. The Supreme Court majority threw all of this out.

Sotomayor sums it up: "Today's court…has replaced a presumption of equality before the law with a presumption that the President is above the law for all of his official acts."

popular.info/p/a-five-alarm…

5. The majority invented this new kind of presidential immunity 235 years after the Constitution was ratified.

And it lacks any grounding in the Constitution's text.

Instead, Chief Justice Roberts, writing for the majority, cites the need for the president to take "bold and unhesitating action" without "undue caution."

6. Counter-point: Maybe it's a good idea for the President to pause for a second and consider whether the action he or she is contemplating is illegal.

popular.info/p/a-five-alarm…

7. The decision is NOT a compromise. The majority emphasizes it found that the President can be criminally prosecuted for unofficial acts.

But that was the position of TRUMP'S OWN LAWYERS. So, it is hardly a concession.

8. The heart of the majority decision is that, for all other official acts, the President has "at least presumptive immunity." The majority finds the President is immune unless "the Government can show that applying a criminal prohibition to that act would pose no 'dangers of intrusion on the authority and functions of the Executive Branch.'"

Under the standard created by the majority, this is close to impossible.

9. The majority decision, in fact, explains at length why criminally prosecuting Trump for pressuring former Vice President Pence to OVERTURN THE LEGITIMATE RESULTS OF THE ELECTION and install Trump for a second term may be an "intrusion on Presidential authority"

10. Want to share this information? It's all right here, with links to primary sources:

popular.info/p/a-five-alarm…

11. If you liked this thread, you'll LOVE the Popular Information newsletter.

It's important not to let an algorithm controlled by a right-wing billionaire determine what information you receive.

And it's free to sign up.

popular.info/subscribe