‘Extreme Court’ Puts Trump Above the Law In Immunity Ruling, California Democrats Say

The Supreme Court’s decision on Monday that presidents have presumptive immunity from prosecution for official acts after leaving office drew sharp words from elected Democrats in the Bay Area and California.

Many agreed with the dissenting liberal justices who said the decision places presidents above the law. It was seen as a major win for former President Trump in the federal criminal case over his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the House during the second half of Trump’s presidency, said the Supreme Court had given Trump a “political gift” and had “gone rogue with its decision, violating the foundational American principle that no one is above the law.”

“The former president’s claim of total presidential immunity is an insult to the vision of our founders, who declared independence from a King,” Pelosi said in a statement.

California Reps. Zoe Lofgren and Adam Schiff, who both served on the House Jan. 6 committee, sharply condemned the decision. Schiff said the decision was “far worse than anything I imagined.”

“It would be difficult to overstate how much this opinion shifts the balance of power away from Congress and towards the presidency and how unshackled a corrupt president will now be,” Schiff said in a statement. “The Court gives the president absolute power, and it will corrupt him, absolutely.”

In a Monday appearance on MSNBC, Lofgren noted that in last week’s debate with President Biden, Trump “would not commit to accepting the election results this November unless he won.”

“So we’ve got a problem here if he cannot be accountable if any president cannot be held accountable under the laws that exist,” she said. “That’s a complete departure from our history.”

Sen. Alex Padilla said in a statement that the court “afforded future presidents carte blanche to abuse the powers of their office for political and personal gain and laid the foundation for Donald Trump to have absolute authority in a potential second term.”

He cast the blame on Trump’s “handpicked justices,” a sentiment echoed by Rep. Anna Eshoo.

“We don’t have an activist court; we have an extreme court,” Eshoo told KQED. “To read Justice Sotomayor’s dissent was enough to make any decent American weep. This Fourth of July will, I think, be the saddest of my life.”

Notably, Rep. Eric Swalwell said special counsel Jack Smith will make the argument in the election interference case that Trump’s conduct on Jan. 6 didn’t represent “official acts.”

“This is not a Trump victory,” he posted on X.

On this, he seemingly stands alone from his colleagues.

KQED’s Caroline Smith contributed to this report.