Democrats warn ‘Americans should be scared’ after Supreme Court gives Trump substantial immunity: Live updates

The US Supreme Court has ruled that Donald Trump is immune from criminal prosecution for official acts conducted during his time as president but not unofficial acts. The ruling has a huge impact on cases connected to his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

The former president’s defense has already been shot down by the federal judge overseeing the election interference case brought against him by special counsel Jack Smith , as well as by a unanimous panel of appeals court judges, the latter writing that Trump’s attempts to stay in power after losing the vote to Joe Biden four years ago represented “an unprecedented assault on the structure of our government.”

The court’s ruling will have profound consequences for holding former presidents accountable for crimes committed while occupying the White House.

But the court’s decision to take up the case – and to wait until the final day of its current session to issue a ruling – ensures that voters will not see a verdict in the case against Trump for unlawfully conspiring to overturn the last election before they cast their ballots in the next one this November.

President Joe Biden will deliver remarks on the ruling from the White House at 7.45pm ET.