Democrats roundly condemned the U.S. Supreme Court’s Monday ruling that former President Donald Trump has legal immunity for “official acts” as a threat to democracy, while Republicans praised the 6-3 ruling as a constitutional victory.
In a brief address, Biden warned that the court’s ruling meant there were “virtually no limits on what the president can do” if Trump is elected to the White House.
But it was Biden’s Georgia-born aide, Quentin Fulks, who had the harsher comments.
Credit: TNS
Credit: TNS
“I’m scared as [expletive],” he told reporters shortly after the ruling. “And I think Americans are scared and should be scared of what Donald Trump will do, because he has been telling us for months. And so I can reassure you that when you do see President Biden out on the trail, he will be talking about the reasons why Americans should be scared of Donald Trump.”
The ruling was a legal victory for Trump, making it far less likely that federal election-interference charges will go to trial before November, but it also had implications that could far outlast Trump and President Joe Biden.
“The relationship between the president and the people he serves has shifted irrevocably,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in a dissent joined by the court’s other two liberals. “In every use of official power, the president is now a king above the law.”
Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the majority, argued that presidents should be insulated from prosecution for official acts because the “president is a branch of government, and the Constitution vests in him sweeping powers and duties.” But he added that not all acts in office are “official acts,” a distinction that leaves the door open for at least some of the charges against Trump to stand, including in Georgia.
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WHAT’S NEXT. The Supreme Court’s decision Monday that presidents have “absolute immunity” for official acts, but not for unofficial acts, could have major implications on the case against former President Donald Trump in Fulton County.
Our colleagues Tamar Hallerman and Bill Rankin spoke with legal experts about the ruling’s potential consequences and found lawyers split on whether or not it will sink the Georgia case. Ultimately, they wrote, it will come down to Judge Scott McAfee to decide which of the 10 remaining counts against Trump can remain in light of the high court’s decision.
“The question: was Trump's conduct — such as his January 2021 phone call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger — official, and thus must be dropped from the indictment? Or is it unofficial and fair game for prosecutors?
The court said trial judges like McAfee will need to tease that out using “objective analysis of ‘content, form and context.'"
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SHHHHH. A key part of the national Democratic strategy to contain the damage over President Joe Biden’s poor debate last week in Atlanta involves discouraging dissent from within the party. It’s a strategy state Democrats are embracing, too.
On Monday, Democratic Party of Georgia aides sent a mass email to officials urging them to think twice about panning Biden — and directing them to talk to party communications staff if they’re contacted by the media.
“As we have relayed to you all, not every press opportunity is a good one or a helpful one; while reporters are typically friendly — they talk to people for a living — they should not be considered friends; and they can’t write something you don’t say.”
Helpfully, the email telling officials not to talk to the press ended up with, you guessed it, the press.
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Credit: Nathan Posner for the AJC
Credit: Nathan Posner for the AJC
LISTEN UP. Today on “Politically Georgia,” Congresswoman Nikema Williams, who also serves as chairwoman of the Democratic Party of Georgia, shares why the most visible members of the party are sticking beside President Joe Biden despite his poor debate performance.
Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper will also join the show to provide his insight on the presidential contest and Georgia politics.
Listen live at 10 a.m. on WABE 90.1 or follow “Politically Georgia” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
On Monday’s show, AJC Publisher Andrew Morse discussed the editorial board’s decision to urge Biden to drop out of the race for president. And state Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver, D-Decatur, shared her thoughts about last week’s debate.
Finally, Georgia State University Professor Anthony Michael Kreis provided some initial reaction to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling that former President Donald Trump has immunity if a lower court rules his efforts to overturn the election were tied to his official duties.
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Credit: TNS
Credit: TNS
NO FREE LUNCH. U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath sent a letter to Gov. Brian Kemp Monday criticizing the state of Georgia for declining to participate in a federal program that provides free student lunches over the summer.
McBath said that 1.2 million low-income children in Georgia would be eligible for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Summer EBT Program, also known as “Sun Bucks.” Georgia is one of only 12 states not participating or planning to participate in the program this summer or next, McBath said.
Individual counties are providing lunches to students using various programs and funding sources, including Henry County. But McBath’s letter said the county-by-county process creates a piecemeal system that leaves some students out.
“Last year, 59 counties in Georgia did not have a Summer Food Service Program feeding site, and some counties currently have no summer feeding sites at all,” the Marietta Democrat wrote in her letter.
Kemp’s office told WXIA-TV 11Alive News earlier this year that existing programs made it unnecessary for the state to participate in “Sun Bucks,” which a spokesman for Kemp said could not meet its stated goals.
“Therefore, along with our neighboring states, Georgia opted not to participate in the proposed EBT program and instead remains focused on well-established and effective programs that are tailored to address our state’s specific needs by providing necessary nutrition and engagement to families and kids,” spokesman Garrison Douglas said.
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TODAY IN WASHINGTON:
- President Joe Biden will tour the D.C. Emergency Operations Center and deliver remarks on extreme weather. Later, he will attend a campaign fundraiser in a Washington suburb.
- The U.S. House and Senate are in recess until July 8.
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Credit: Carter Center
Credit: Carter Center
$1 MILLION CARTER. Former President Jimmy Carter’s old art tools brought in the biggest donation at the Carter Center’s annual auction this past weekend, the AJC’s Matt Kempner reports.
The winning bidder paid a cool $1 million for a package that included a “well-used” metal bucket with 37 partially squeezed tubes of oil paints, a container with 16 of Carter’s art brushes, a leather brush bucket and a signed, limited-edition giclée print of an idyllic scene the former president painted of the Carter Center and gardens in Atlanta.
The Carter Center had valued the package at $2,000. In all, the auction at this year’s retreat in San Diego raised $2.5 million. The proceeds go toward programs at the center.
According to Mercer University, the former president took up painting as a hobby in the 1980s after he left the Oval Office and set up a modest studio at his woodworking shop in Plains. One of his many published books is a collection of his favorite paintings, along with his own description of each.
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AS ALWAYS, Politically Georgia readers are some of our favorite tipsters. Send your best scoop, gossip and insider info to greg.bluestein@ajc.com, tia.mitchell@ajc.com, patricia.murphy@ajc.com and adam.vanbrimmer@ajc.com.
