FAQs: Locking Trump Up

Didn’t the Supreme Court say that President Trump has absolute immunity?

No. Contrary to popular belief, the Supreme Court didn’t give Donald Trump the immunity of a king. Prior to the Trump v United States (2024) ruling, a sitting president actually DID have absolute immunity.  In 1974, the Nixon Administration invented Presidential immunity as part of a larger strategy to protect the Republican party from the fallout from the Watergate scandal. 

They had Nixon’s DOJ conjure a memo completely devoid of any attachment to the Constitution, and granted absolute immunity to the President.  In 2024, SCOTUS eliminated absolute immunity and replaced it with a tiered immunity structure that allows immunity for some criminal acts, but not others.  This is why DA Alvin Bragg was able to secure a conviction against Trump in the hush money case involving Stormi Daniels after the Court’s immunity ruling.

Isn’t the Attorney General the only person that can indict a sitting President?

No.  That was the case under Nixon’s rules.  The Trump (2024) ruling grants county and state level prosecutors like District Attorneys and State Attorneys General with the authority to indict a sitting President.  Again, District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s case was allowed to continue after the Trump (2024) ruling.  DA Fani Willis’s case was also allowed to continue, but there wasn’t a single prosecutor in the state of Georgia that was brave enough to fill her shoes after her removal. 

Isn’t the Supreme Court in Trump’s pocket?

Not in every case.  SCOTUS has an agenda of its own. The Supreme Court has issued more rulings against Trump to date in his second term than they did in the entirety of his first term.  A number of these rulings took authority away from the Executive Branch and reallocated it to the Judicial Branch.  The Trump (2024) ruling, for example, took the authority to dictate the rules regarding presidential immunity and indictment away from the Executive Branch and gave it to the Judicial Branch. They were willing to convict Trump in the Stormi Daniels hush money case.  And they gave clues in their immunity ruling as to which criminal acts are indictable.

If SCOTUS refused to convict Trump for the January 6 attack, doesn’t that mean they won’t convict him for anything?

No.  Jack Smith and Fani Willis were the only two prosecutors that have attempted to secure convictions against Trump for the January 6 attack.  Neither case was dismissed because of Presidential immunity in the wake of the presidential immunity ruling.  Special Prosector Jack Smith requested that the case be dismissed without prejudice to prevent Trump’s DOJ from taking the case over after he won the 2024 election.  Fani Willis’s case was dismissed after the search to replace her came up empty-handed. 

What’s the point of trying to take Trump to court if it’s likely that he will win?

There are many reasons to take people to court that are unrelated to winning in the traditional sense.  For example, the Trump Administration takes legal action in order to punish his political and economic opponents and to create fractures in our legal protections.  Those seeking accountability can take over the political narrative by launching wave after wave of trials against the President.  Trials can produce evidence and documentation that the Administration has been working to keep from the public.  This information can be used to target Trump’s co-conspirators.  They have even less immunity than the President. There is a significant chance that the Supreme Court will convict Trump for his violent attempt to overturn the election.  We have the responsibility to try.

What do we need to do take Trump back to court?

District Attorneys Mary Moriarty (Hennepin County, MN), Seane Teare (Harris County, TX) and Kathryn Slattery (York County, ME) can launch investigations and summon grand juries to indict the ICE Agents, DHS officials, and the President for the state level equivalents of obstruction of justice and conspiracy related to the murders of Renee Goode, Alex Pretti, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, and Johan Sebastian Guerro. Every DA in every county that Trump has committed a crime in should be pursuing indictment.

To learn what you can do to help pressure DA’s and State AGs to hold Trump accountable, go to the Strategic Institute for Intersectional Policy and Practice’s blog Strategy Camp. There are many ways you can help ensure Trump has his days in court.  Visit www.strategycamp.org to learn more.