Can Trump be prosecuted? Supreme Court will take up precedent-setting case to define the limits of presidential immunity

Former President Donald Trump speaks to the media following his appearance at the District Court in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 9, 2024. Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images by Claire Wofford, College of Charleston The U.S. Supreme Court announced on Feb. 28, 2024, that it will consider the momentous issue of whether Donald Trump is immune from criminal prosecution, delaying the federal prosecution of the former president for his alleged efforts to subvert the 2020 election. A lower court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, ruled on Feb. 6 that Trump could be prosecuted, rejecting his claims of immunity. Trump appealed that ruling to the Supreme Court. Claire Wofford, a political scientist who teaches constitutional law and American government at the College of Charleston, analyzed that previous ruling for The Conversation. Senior politics and democracy editor Naomi Schalit asked Wofford to answer questions here about the Supreme Court’s decision to consider the Trump immunity case. What question did the Supreme Court say it will address by taking this case? In agreeing to hear this case, the Supreme Court justices said they will decide whether or not Trump is immune from criminal prosecution by Special...