The Chief Republican Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Lindsey Graham, predicted on Sunday that the Supreme Court of the United States would remand the case on whether former President Trump can enjoy immunity from criminal prosecution back to a lower court for review and grant him immunity for certain actions.
In an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” program on Sunday, the Republican Senator from South Carolina said, “I think the court will decide that President Trump, like other presidents, has presidential immunity, but it must be within the scope of being president. I think they will remand the case back to a lower court to determine which actions fall under presidential immunity and which actions are considered personal. I think this will be a way to end the case – some actions will receive some immunity.”
Graham made the above comments just a few days before the Supreme Court of the United States held oral arguments on whether Trump had presidential immunity in the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot. Trump’s lawyers argued during oral arguments that former presidents cannot be prosecuted for actions during their tenure, even if they have left the White House.
The Supreme Court seems to have a somewhat open attitude towards Trump’s presidential immunity, which could further delay his criminal trial.
As the Chief Republican of the Senate Judiciary Committee in the United States, Graham told CNN in the Sunday interview, “There is no absolute immunity stipulated in the Constitution. This will be a legal analysis; the president needs to be protected. We are not going to become a banana republic here. We prosecute political opponents, which is actually happening in many jurisdictions. But I think the decision on immunity will partially support Trump, as to when and where it applies, more legal and factual analysis needs to be done.”
Graham also rejected CNN’s Dana Bash’s question about whether voters should know the outcome of Trump’s multiple court cases before the November election and criticized all these cases against Trump as “political” and “selective” prosecution.
The Republican Senator said, “I think the ongoing cases against Donald Trump are weaponizing the law,” and reiterated his support for Trump, even if the former president is convicted in any of the four criminal cases he is facing.