Good Tuesday morning! Supreme Court rules presidents are immune from criminal prosecution for “official acts,” impacting efforts to prosecute Trump for Jan. 6, 2021. actions.

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Good morning,

This week is expected to break records… travel records. Airports around the US are preparing for what could be the busiest Fourth of July travel season to date. The same goes for highways.

• Nearly 71 million people are expected to travel this federal holiday, AAA predicts — most of them by car.

• TSA expects to see more than 32 million passengers between June 27 and July 8. That’s a more than 5% jump from last year.

  • Last week, TSA broke a single-day record by screening close to 3 million passengers.

• Airports and roadways are expected to be busiest on July 3 and 7.

To quote the approximately 5,000 local news reporters who will say this on TV this week: Pack Your patience!

Mosheh, Jill, & Lauren

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⚖️ SUPREME COURT: PRESIDENTS CANNOT BE PROSECUTED FOR OFFICIAL ACTS

The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that former US presidents retain significant immunity from criminal prosecution for acts taken while in office—outlining standards for “official acts,” and “unofficial acts”

In a 6-3 opinion along partisan lines, the conservative majority ruled on Trump’s claim of absolute immunity. The court effectively created three buckets when it comes to prosecuting Trump, and any other future presidents. [FULL DECISION]

1. Trump is entitled to “absolute immunity” for core presidential functions laid out in the constitution.

2. He has “presumptive immunity” from criminal prosecution for acts "within the outer perimeter of his official responsibility." [The burden is on the government to rebut Trump’s presumption of immunity when there's a close call.]

3. He has no immunity for unofficial acts.

The decision will have widespread impacts on several of Trump’s criminal cases, most significantly on the election interference case, where he is accused of trying to subvert the 2020 election. It virtually guarantees that his trial won’t start before Election Day. If he wins, it might never take place.

A HISTORIC RULING
Trump is the first former president facing criminal prosecution, and appealed this case to the Supreme Court. So the question now— what’s an official vs unofficial act? The Supremes punted that question, in part, to lower courts.

• Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the majority (including 3 justices appointed by Trump): “The system of separated powers designed by the Framers has always demanded an energetic, independent executive. The president therefore may not be prosecuted for exercising his core constitutional powers, and he is entitled, at a minimum, to a presumptive immunity from prosecution for all his official acts.” The majority was worried that the threat of criminal prosecution for official acts might hamstring a president, and invite tit-for-tat political reprisals.

  • The conservative majority also specified that “official acts” cannot be used as evidence to prove charges stemming from “unofficial,” unprotected conduct. “Testimony or private records of the President or his advisers probing such conduct may not be admitted as evidence at trial,” Roberts wrote.

    • What that means: For example, the president might tell a cabinet secretary that he’s planning to assault someone. If he does it, the president can be prosecuted for assault (unofficial act), but that conversation (an official act) cannot be used in the criminal trial — making prosecution much harder.

• In a fiery dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote that the decision is a “mockery” that makes a president a “king above the law,” “reshapes the institution of the presidency,” and that she has “fear for our democracy.”

  • She claimed that this allows presidents to violate the law:

    • “Orders the Navy’s Seal Team 6 to assassinate a political rival? Immune. Organizes a military coup to hold onto power? Immune. Takes a bribe in exchange for a pardon? Immune. Immune, immune, immune,” she wrote, adding: “Even if these nightmare scenarios never play out, and I pray they never do, the damage has been done.” (Roberts disagreed with this assessment in his decision.)

      

SOME EXAMPLES 
The District court judge will need to figure out exactly how to apply the decision to Trump’s case, including what actions related to Jan 6 were “official.” However, Roberts gave some guidance.

• Prosecutors alleged Trump tried to use the investigative power of the Justice Department to undo the election results. Justices say he can do that. Communications with agency officials fall under the constitution/absolute immunity bucket.

• What about Trump pressuring then-Vice President Mike Pence not to certify the electoral votes on January 6? That falls under official duties/presumptive immunity bucket. Translation: It will be on prosecutors to rebut the presumption of immunity to make those conversations admissible.

CANDIDATES REACT

• President Biden spoke briefly from the White House late Monday. He said the ruling creates a "dangerous precedent" that could turn presidents into kings, and called on voters to "dissent" by rejecting Trump in November's election.

• Trump posted, "BIG WIN FOR OUR CONSTITUTION AND DEMOCRACY.”

RIGHT, LEFT, MIDDLE: SCHOLARS REACT
Like the three Democratic appointees on the court, many liberal legal scholars are expressing a lot of concern over the opinion. Meanwhile, a number of conservatives are saying the opposite; that this is common sense and clarifies the law.

TRIAL UPDATE
Trump's federal election interference case, brought by special counsel Jack Smith, was scheduled to start in March before delays over the immunity issue. Now, no trial date is set and additional delays are expected due to this ruling.

• Smith also leads Trump’s other federal case over his alleged mishandling of classified documents.

  • Trump’s team will try to argue that he was president when he flew down with the boxes of classified records to Florida— thus an “official act.”

• In Georgia, Trump also faces charges over his actions during the 2020 election. Trump’s lead attorney for the case argued in January that the state-level charges should be dismissed on immunity grounds.

  • Prosecutors had been waiting for the Supreme Court to weigh in before responding, but yesterday’s decision may have an impact on the case.

Reminder: If Trump wins in November, the federal cases could be tossed out completely when he nominates an attorney general.

Mo News Podcast: A daily conversation about the news that matters.

⏳ SPEED READ

🚨NATION

📌 Democrats weigh early mid-July vote to formally tap Biden as nominee (BLOOMBERG)

📌 New law requiring California bars to offer drink-spiking drug test kits takes effect (CNN)

📌 Hunter Biden sues Fox News under New York's 'revenge porn' law (NBC NEWS)

📌 Newly released transcripts show Florida prosecutors knew Epstein raped teenage girls 2 years before cutting deal (AP)

🌎 AROUND THE WORLD

📌 Deadly Hurricane Beryl devastates Caribbean en route to Jamaica (AXIOS)

📌 Lawsuit by October 7 victims takes aim at Iran, North Korea, Syria for supporting Hamas (AP)

📌 Israel orders Palestinians to flee Khan Younis, Gaza’s second-largest city, signaling likely new battle (AP)

📌 Nepal court sentences 'Buddha Boy' to 10 years in jail for sexual abuse (REUTERS)

📌 Pope Francis formally approves canonization of first-ever millennial saint, teen Carlo Acutis (CBS NEWS)

📱BUSINESS, SCIENCE & TECH

📌 Meta accused of breaking European law with its ‘pay or consent’ model (CNN)

📌 Boeing agrees to buy Spirit AeroSystems for nearly $5 billion as part of plan to shore up safety (AP)

📌 Category 5 Hurricane Beryl may be an 'ominous' sign of what's to come (USA TODAY)

📌 Boston Celtics' owner puts team up for sale after winning NBA title (REUTERS)

🎬 SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT

📌 Michael J. Fox makes surprise appearance with Coldplay at Glastonbury Festival (CBS NEWS)

📌 Inclusion of O.J. Simpson in BET Awards 'In Memoriam' blasted as 'just wrong' by families of Nicole Brown Simpson, Ron Goldman (NBC NEWS)

📌 Kylie Jenner and Timothée Chalamet step out together for the first time in months (PEOPLE)

📌 Transgender runner Nikki Hiltz is headed to the Paris Olympics (NBC NEWS)

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✓ Support Mo News and help us provide independent, non-partisan news coverage

🗓 ON THIS DAY: JULY 2

• 1776: The US Continental Congress votes for independence. But, the written Declaration of Independence wasn’t finalized for two more days (July 4).

• 1962: Sam Walton opened the first Walmart store opened in Rogers, Arkansas, then known as Wal-Mart.

• 1964: President Lyndon B. Johnson signed The Civil Rights Act into law, prohibiting discrimination and segregation based on race, color, sex, religion or national origin.

• 1990: 🎶Vanilla Ice released 'Ice Ice Baby'

Smart, actionable news trusted by 1M+ subscribers

Looking for a quick way to stay on top of the latest market news?

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And the best part? It’s completely free. Join 1M+ readers and subscribe today.