Tuesday Briefing: Top court gives Trump significant immunity
Good morning. We’re covering the Supreme Court’s ruling on Donald Trump’s immunity and campaigning in the second round of France’s election. Plus, why scientists are studying pets.
The Supreme Court granted Trump substantial immunityThe Supreme Court ruled yesterday that Donald Trump was entitled to substantial immunity from prosecution, a major statement on presidential power that could have long-term repercussions. The crux of the ruling, which was decided on a 6-3 vote on partisan lines, is in the difference between official and private conduct. Broad immunity for official conduct is needed, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the majority, to protect “an energetic, independent executive.” The ruling will almost certainly delay Trump’s trial on charges of plotting to subvert the 2020 election until after the 2024 election. The case now returns to the lower court, which will decide whether Trump’s actions were in an official or private capacity. If Trump wins re-election, he can simply order the Justice Department to drop the charges. The dissenting liberal justices warned that the ruling extended a level of immunity that could undermine democracy, and said that the decision made the president into “a king above the law.”
France reeled after far-right victoryFor many, France felt like a different place yesterday after the first round of snap elections. The far-right National Rally party, led by Marine Le Pen, won a record number of votes, and President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist Renaissance party appeared to be near collapse. Here are five takeaways. Frenetic campaigning has begun for Sunday’s runoff election. Only 76 seats of the 577 seats in the National Assembly were won outright, and there will be a battle for the remaining seats this week. The big question is whether the National Rally will get enough seats in the runoff to command an absolute majority. If that happens, Macron will be forced to appoint a political adversary as prime minister, shifting domestic policy and muddling foreign policy. If that doesn’t happen, the National Assembly will most likely be ungovernable, with Macron’s party and its allies squeezed between the right and the left, my colleague Roger Cohen writes in an analysis. France would likely face months of political deadlock or turmoil.
Biden’s campaign tries to reassure donorsPresident Biden’s top campaign official was expected to hold a crucial conference call with donors to try to convince them that the president can still beat Donald Trump in November. The rush to speak with donors was the campaign’s most formal effort yet to tamp down panic after Biden’s shaky and disjointed performance in Thursday’s debate. Preserving the donor base will be critical to the president’s argument for staying in the race, even as his team braces for poll results this week that could show whether the debate has tanked his support. |
