LOS ANGELES.–Liberals have turned their ire on Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, 68, for his July 1 ruling [6-3] granting limited presidential immunity to former President Donald Trump for official acts while president. House and Senate Democrats and 81-year-old President Joe Biden now push for term limits on the Supreme Court and some kind of ethical standards, all because liberals don’t like the Supreme Court letting Trump off the hook. But the real issue the Supreme Court dealt with in Trump v. United States involved the weaponization of the Justice Department where the executive branch, under its Article 2 authority, can use the agencies of the state for political persecution. When you look at all the legal cases pending against Trump, they all look politically motivate for the purpose of stopping his 2024 presidential campaign. Chief Justice John Roberts was concerned about malicious prosecution.
In the July 1 immunity ruling, it upends Democrats pending cases against Trump, all designed to prosecute him for crimes he never committed but which the government accuses him of, including obstructing the 2020 election, mishandling classified documents, election racketeering and of course, Trump’s May 30 conviction in Manhattan of 34 felonies related to bookkeeping for an alleged hush money payment to Stormy Daniels. When it comes to all Trump’s legal cases, they have one common denominator, they’re all politically motivated malicious prosecutions. Roberts and other conservatives on the Supreme Court realized there must be checks-and-balances on the government malicious prosecution of former presidents, especially a Republican Party nominee. If Democrats got their way, they could simply throw the book at Trump to stop him from running.
Atty. Gen. Merrick Garland appointed Jack Smith Nov. 18, 2022 as Special Counsel to prosecute former President Donald Trump for alleged crimes related to the 2020 presidential election. Trump was charged Aug. 2, 2023 for obstructing the certification of the 2020 presidential vote because the Jan. 6, 2021 riots. But in charging Trump, Roberts and other conservatives on the Supreme Court, realized that Trump was charged by Smith without facts in evidence for the Jan. 6 Capitol riots. House Democrats in their Jan. 6 Select Committee charged Trump with organizing and planning the Jan. 6 Capitol riots. Smith went off biased House Democrats looking for any excuse to charge Trump to stop him for running for president in 2024. Roberts and Supreme Court conservatives realized that presidential immunity was the only way to stop malicious prosecution.
Roberts and other conservatives ruled June 26 on Fischer v. United States that the government could not use the Enron-driven July 30, 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act to add jail time to Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol rioters, forcing the courts to revisit long sentences given to lawbreakers. Roberts and other conservatives on the court watched as liberal prosecutors took inappropriate liberties with existing laws like Sarbanes-Oxley to tack on extra time to sentences for Jan. 6 Capitol rioters. When it came to Trump, the Supreme Court ruled March 4 that the state of Colorado would not use Section 3 of the 14th Amendment “insurrection clause” to keep Trump off the ballot. So, the Supreme Court was batting away liberal attacks on the Constitution and rule of law making up any excuse possible to keep Trump from running in the 2024 election. All recent Supreme Court decisions attempt to stop malicious prosecution.
Liberals complain that the Robert’s court has prevented the Justice Department from running amok, prosecuting political enemies like Trump for whatever reason necessary. Liberal broadcast and print outlets want to blame Roberts’ conservative court but has Roberts done anything other than defend the Constitution? When it comes to using the 14th Amendment to deny Trump the ballot or using Sarbanes-Oxley to impose longer sentences on Jan. 6 rioters, what was the Roberts’ court supposed to do, ignore the rule of law? Democrats want carte blanche to use government agencies for political prosecution. What did Trump have to do with the Jan. 6 Capitol riots? He was at the White House and could do nothing to stop lawbreakers vandalizing the Capitol. He told a crowd earlier in the day in Washington, D.C. to go protest but to do it peacefully and legally.
President Joe Biden has joined the Democrat bandwagon bashing the Supreme Court for upholding the Constitution and rule of law. If Democrats had their way, Trump would be locked up on fabricated charges, all because they don’t want him running for president in 2024. Giving Trump limited immunity for official acts is nothing different that his Article 2 right of presidential immunity given in the Constitution. Democrats and press want to take away Trump Constitutional immunity so they can prosecute him without probable cause for fabricated crimes. Roberts and conservative justices simply wanted to remind the White House they cannot arbitrarily charge the president with various crimes simply because they don’t like him politically. Biden and House and Senate Democrats have no chance of changing anything when it comes to the Supreme Court.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
