Political commentator Van Jones said Monday that the Supreme Court's decision that core presidential powers are immune from criminal prosecution is "almost like a license to thug" for former President Trump.
The court's decision was a significant victory for Trump, since it sends his federal case related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol back to court to determine if charges are warranted. That likely puts off a trial in the decision until after the presidential election.
But Jones expressed more concern about future acts Trump might take, given the decision, if he were reelected.
“Politically, it's almost like a ‘license to thug,’ in a way,” Jones continued. “Like, you can do whatever you want, and the Supreme Court is probably going to let you get away with it. That is very frightening in this case, and so I'm very, very concerned.”
The 6-3 Supreme Court ruling was decided on ideological lines and stopped short of granting Trump the total immunity he sought in the case.
Jones said the justices had to decide, “Do you more care about the unlawful conduct of a sitting president or possibly the unfair prosecution of a former president?” adding, “They're obviously more concerned about the latter.”
He said the decision politically is “bad” and “makes the Supreme Court look very partisan.”
“They're supposed to be wearing these, kind of, black-and-white umpire jerseys, or whatever. They look like they're wearing red jerseys, or even MAGA hats. It's going to go down bad politically for the Supreme Court,” Jones said.
The decision is a blow to some charges in special counsel Jack Smith's indictment of Trump, in determining various actions Trump took to remain in power after losing the election indeed were protected.
The case now returns to district court, where proceedings have been paused while the high court weighed Trump’s immunity claims. Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is overseeing the matter, must now weigh the issue for a second time, as well as other pending efforts by Trump seeking to toss the case.
