Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's previous rulings that presidents are not "above the law" may be "tested" as the court faces potential major hearings involving Donald Trump, according to a legal expert.
Lisa Rubin, an attorney and legal analyst, highlighted the earlier remarks from the conservative judge, who was one of three justices nominated to the Supreme Court bench by Trump. The country's highest court is set to decide if the former president can cite absolute immunity to avoid federal prosecution, as well as if the Republican can run for the White House in 2024 in Colorado.
On Tuesday, Trump, the frontrunner in the 2024 GOP presidential primary, was disqualified by the Colorado Supreme Court for running for president in the state after it ruled his actions on January 6 violated Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which states a person who "engaged in insurrection or rebellion" after taking an oath of office to support the Constitution should be barred from running for office again. Trump is set to appeal the ruling in the U.S. Supreme Court.
Elsewhere, Special Counsel Jack Smith, who charged Trump with four federal offenses over his alleged criminal attempts to overturn the 2020 Election results, urged the Supreme Court to fast-track a ruling on whether Trump can cite presidential immunity, as the allegations relate to his time in the White House, in order to dismiss the case now Trump is no longer in office.
In a series of posts on X, formerly Twitter, Rubin discussed Kavanaugh's July 2020 ruling in which he went against Trump in a Supreme Court decision.
In a 7-2 vote, the Supreme Court said that former Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr.'s office can be allowed to request Trump's financial records as part of an investigation into the former president's real estate company, The Trump Organization.
"Pop quiz: Which sitting SCOTUS justice wrote this in a 2020 case? 'In our system of government, as this Court has often stated, no one is above the law. That principle applies, of course, to a President,'" Vance posted.
"Would it stun you to learn the answer is...Brett Kavanaugh, concurring in the judgment, in then-Manhattan DA Cy Vance's bid for Trump's tax and financial papers?
"And it looks like Kavanaugh's commitment to that principle is going to be tested in the coming weeks," Rubin added.
The Supreme Court has been contacted for comment via email.
Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, who was also nominated to the bench by Trump, also ruled against the former president in the July 2020 decision.
The Trump Organization was fined $1.6 million in January after being found guilty of 17 counts of tax fraud and other financial crimes following a trial in December 2022 as part of the case brought forward by Vance.
A number of legal experts have suggested that the Supreme Court will rule in favor of Trump if it has to decide on whether the former president can appear on the 2024 ballots in Colorado.
"Given the makeup of the Supreme Court and the legal and political considerations, I think the Colorado Supreme Court's ruling will be overturned, even though Trump did engage in an insurrection," federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani told Newsweek.
"Colorado was always the best venue for the 14th Amendment litigants because the secretary of state there has an affirmative duty to disqualify constitutionally prohibited candidates, and because the Colorado Supreme Court justices were all appointed by Democrat governors. That won't be the same in the conservative U.S. Supreme Court."
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Ewan Palmer is a Newsweek News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on US politics, domestic policy ... Read more
