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Supreme Court live updates: Biden says SCOTUS decision sets 'dangerous precedent'

Trump called the ruling a "big win for our constitution and democracy."

The Supreme Court on Monday rejected Donald Trump's sweeping claim of "absolute" immunity from criminal prosecution in his federal election subversion case, but said former presidents are entitled to some protections for "official" acts taken while in the White House.

The ruling will affect whether Trump faces a federal trial this year on four felony counts brought by special counsel Jack Smith, including conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and obstruction of an official proceeding, for his attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss to President Joe Biden. Trump pleaded not guilty and has denied any wrongdoing.

The justices are sending the case back to the trial court to determine what acts alleged in Smith's indictment constitute official duties that could be protected from liability and which are not.


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Trump fundraises off immunity ruling

Former President Donald Trump's campaign sent out an email fundraising off the Supreme Court decision on presidential immunity.

"BREAKING FROM TRUMP: Supreme Court gives TOTAL IMMUNITY for official acts!" Trump campaign's fundraising email said.

"Official acts cannot be illegally prosecuted - BIG WIN FOR DEMOCRACY &; OUR CONSTITUTION!" the fundraising email continues, calling the case a "witch hunt" and saying it "should've never happened."

-ABC News' Soorin Kim


Jackson argues ruling 'breaks new and dangerous ground'

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson issued a dissent in the Supreme Court's presidential immunity ruling arguing it "breaks new and dangerous ground."

"So, how does this new Presidential accountability model work? An initial problem is the lack of clarity regarding what this new model entails," she wrote.

Jackson added that the ruling "unilaterally altered the balance of power between the three coordinate branches of our Government as it relates to the Rule of Law, aggrandizing power in the Judiciary and the Executive, to the detriment of Congress."

Jackson and Justice Sonia Sotomayor both penned dissents. Justice Elena Kagan joined Sotomayor in her dissent.

The split 6-3 opinion was authored by Chief Justice John Roberts.


'It makes a mockery of the principle ... that no man is above the law,' Sotomayor says in dissent

In her dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor pushed back against the conservative justices' ruling on former President Donald Trump's immunity case.

Sotomayor contended in her dissent that the ruling "makes a mockery of the principle, foundational to our Constitution and system of Government, that no man is above the law."

She argued the conservative justices invented "an atextual, ahistorical, and unjustifiable immunity that puts the President above the law."

"That holding, which will prevent the Government from using a President's official acts to prove knowledge or intent in prosecuting private offenses, is nonsensical. Argument by argument, the majority invents immunity through brute force," she added.

Sotomayor also said the ruling opens up the possibility that when a president uses their official powers in any way, they will be "insulated from criminal prosecution."

"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," Sotomayor wrote.

Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson joined Sotomayor in her dissent.

The split 6-3 opinion was authored by Chief Justice John Roberts.


Special counsel Jack Smith declines to comment

Special counsel Jack Smith's office declined to comment on the Supreme Court ruling, a spokesperson told ABC News.

The court's ruling will affect whether former President Donald Trump faces a federal trial this year on four felony counts brought by Smith, including conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and obstruction of an official proceeding, for his attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss to President Joe Biden.

-ABC News' Alexander Mallin


Congressional Democrats, Republicans react to SCOTUS ruling

Several Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill spoke out about the Supreme Court's ruling on presidential immunity.

Many GOP members of Congress lauded the decision and said it was a victory for former President Donald Trump. Meanwhile, many Democrats on the Hill said it sets a dangerous precedent.

Speaker Mike Johnson said the decision marks "another defeat for President [Joe] Biden’s weaponized Department of Justice and Jack Smith."

"As President Trump has repeatedly said, the American people, not President Biden’s bureaucrats, will decide the November 5th election," Johnson said in a statement.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said in a statement that the immunity SCOTUS decision “sets a dangerous precedent for the future of our nation.”

“House Democrats will engage in aggressive oversight and legislative activity with respect to the Supreme Court to ensure that the extreme, far-right justices in the majority are brought into compliance with the Constitution,” he said.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a series of statements on X that the ruling was a "disgraceful decision by the MAGA SCOTUS."

"The very basis of our judicial system is that no one is above the law. Treason or incitement of an insurrection should not be considered a core constitutional power afforded to a president," he said.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., said on a post on X that the ruling "upholds the rule of law in our country and rebukes Democrats’ blatant attempts to weaponize our legal system against Donald Trump."

"Time and time again, Americans have watched the Biden administration do everything in its power to take down President Trump, but this partisan attack will not stand in America," she said.