Justice Sonia Sotomayor issued an apoplectic dissent against the Supreme Court‘s majority opinion, holding former President Donald J. Trump cannot be prosecuted for official acts he ordered while in office. The far-left justice baselessly claimed that Monday’s ruling would allow the sitting president to assassinate political opponents or even overthrow the federal government.
“When he uses his official powers in any way, under the majority’s reasoning, he will now be insulated from criminal prosecution,” Justice Sotomayor claimed, alleging the ruling dangerously expands presidential power. She continued, hyperbolically stating: “Orders the Navy’s Seal Team 6 to assassinate a political rival? Immune. Organize a military coup to hold onto power? Immune. Take a bribe in exchange for a pardon? Immune. Immune, immune, immune.”
According to the far-left justice, the high court’s decision “creates a law-free zone around the President.” She goes further, insisting the ruling now allows the President to legally “…place his own interests, his own political survival, or his own financial gain, above the interests of the Nation.”
Despite Sotomayor’s over-the-top dissent, the Supreme Court‘s ruling does not radically alter executive power, nor does it mean the President can murder his political opposition. The majority opinion provides legal immunity for a President’s official acts but not those proven to be ordered in an unofficial capacity. Additionally, the ruling contends that Congress can remove said immunity through the impeachment and removal of a President.
Moreover, the majority of the court asserted that their ruling only intended to set out guidelines for the appeals court to follow, with the case remanded back to the D.C. Circuit for additional proceedings. They noted that the burden of proof is on prosecutors, not the President, to demonstrate that an act is made in an unofficial capacity.
