The Daily Fuckup

Two days after the Supreme Court heard Donald Trump’s immunity argument, the immediate picture was straightforward: the federal election-subversion case in Washington was still on hold while the justices considered how far presidential immunity reaches. The court had not ruled, and the hearing itself did not restart the criminal case or produce a new trial date.

That matters because the Washington case sits at the center of Trump’s effort to contest the 2020 election after losing it. Lower courts had already rejected his immunity claims, but the Supreme Court’s decision to take the case put the prosecution on pause pending a ruling. On April 27, 2024, the practical status was still the same. The case remained frozen, and any move back toward trial would depend on what the justices eventually decided.

The hearing also showed that Trump was pressing for a broad reading of presidential protection, one that would shield official acts from later criminal charges. Prosecutors argued the indictment covers conduct that was political or otherwise outside the president’s official responsibilities. The distinction matters: the legal fight is not over whether a former president enjoys some protection, but how far that protection goes and whether it covers the conduct alleged in this case.

For Trump, the political value of the fight is obvious. He can still describe the prosecution as an attack and present himself as battling a hostile system. But as of April 27, the hearing had not delivered the clean outcome his side wanted. It had only pushed the next step further down the road. The case stayed paused, the court had not resolved the immunity question, and the final shape of the law remained unsettled.

That leaves the central risk intact for both sides. If the court narrows immunity, it could strengthen the prosecution’s path forward. If it accepts a broader theory, it could change the rules for future presidents as well as Trump. Either way, the hearing was not an ending. It was a holding pattern, with a major criminal case waiting on the justices to draw the line.