The Daily Fuckup

On June 24, 2024, Donald Trump was still waiting on the Supreme Court to answer the question at the center of his federal election case: how much, if any, of a former president’s conduct can be treated as immune from criminal prosecution. The justices had already taken the case, and they had heard argument on April 25. But by this date, no opinion had been released, so the lower court and the parties were still in a holding pattern. ([supremecourt.gov](https://www.supremecourt.gov/docket/docketfiles/html/public/23-939.html?utm_source=openai))

That mattered because the immunity ruling was not a side issue. It sat at the core of the prosecution’s path forward in United States v. Trump. The question before the Court was whether, and to what extent, a former president enjoys presidential immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts alleged to have occurred while in office. Until the Court spoke, no one knew which parts of the case would survive intact and which parts might need to be trimmed, delayed, or rebuilt after the opinion came down. ([supremecourt.gov](https://www.supremecourt.gov/docket/docketfiles/html/public/23-939.html?utm_source=openai))

The wait was also a practical problem. A pending Supreme Court ruling freezes strategy for both sides. Prosecutors could not fully lock in their next steps, and Trump’s team had every reason to let the calendar work in its favor while the Court still had the case under advisement. That is not the same thing as a legal win, but it is real leverage in a case where timing affects everything from trial planning to the scope of the evidence. On June 24, the benefit Trump had was simple: no ruling meant no immediate loss. ([supremecourt.gov](https://www.supremecourt.gov/docket/docketfiles/html/public/23-939.html?utm_source=openai))

The broader effect was uncertainty. The Court had heard the arguments in late April, but by late June the case still had no resolution, leaving the public with a basic unanswered question about presidential power after a president leaves office. The eventual opinion would not arrive until July 1, 2024, but on June 24 the story was still the same old one: the most important legal ruling in the case had not yet landed, and everything around it remained on pause. ([supremecourt.gov](https://www.supremecourt.gov/docket/docketfiles/html/public/23-939.html?utm_source=openai))