Schumer moves to deny Trump immunity for election challenge after SCOTUS ruling

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Monday announced that his conference would push legislation to ensure former President Donald Trump would not enjoy immunity for his efforts to challenge the 2020 election results.

The Supreme Court this month ruled that the president enjoys broad immunity for his official acts while in office, but not his unofficial acts. The ruling came as part of special counsel Jack Smith's D.C. election case. Smith has charged Trump in that case with four counts related to the Jan. 6 incident at the Capitol, including conspiracy to defraud, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of, and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights.

“I will work with my colleagues on legislation classifying Trump’s election subversion acts as unofficial acts not subject to immunity,” Schumer said Monday, according to The Hill. “We’re doing this because we believe that in America no president should be free to overturn an election against the will of the people, no matter what the conservative justices may believe.”

The immediate implications of the Supreme Court ruling for Trump's cases remain somewhat unclear, however, as the official status of Trump's election challenges has yet to be determined. 

The former president, for his part, has contended that "the Supreme Court’s Brilliantly Written and Historic Decision ENDS all of Crooked Joe Biden’s Witch Hunts against me."

Democrats, meanwhile, have contended that the justices afforded Trump unduly broad immunity and decided the matter wrongly.

“They incorrectly declared that former President Trump enjoys broad immunity from criminal prosecution for actions he took while in office," Schumer added. "They incorrectly declared that all future presidents are entitled to a breathtaking level of immunity so long as their conduct is ostensibly carried out in their official capacity as president."