‘De Facto Immune’: MSNBC Legal Analyst Says Supreme Court Has ‘Given A Win To Trump’

“I’m very pessimistic … I think ultimately, they will not grant immunity in this case, but they have given him the win because the D.C. case, let’s just face it, is on life support now,” Weissmann said. “It is really, really hard to figure out how this case gets to trial before the election. I think that’s the end result of what they did here. So they may ultimately say that he does not have immunity, but, in fact, he will have been given immunity because the case will not go to trial before the election, meaning if Joe Biden wins, the case goes forward but if he loses, the case is over.”

It also benefits Trump’s campaign rhetoric because he can persist in criticizing the case as political weaponization without a jury ruling on it ahead of the election, Weissmann added.

The Colorado Supreme Court ruled 4-3 in December that Trump cannot be on the state’s ballot under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, but Trump appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court, which heard oral arguments earlier in February. Legal experts largely predict the Supreme Court will rule in favor of Trump.

“By granting the stay, they essentially are saying that he is de facto immune. So I don’t think they should have taken the case. And I think it ends up being that they’ve given a win to Trump here and I think they’re gonna give Trump a win in the Colorado case as well,” Weissmann said.

Judge Arthur Engoron ruled Feb. 16 that Trump was to pay $354 million and disallowed him from being an officer or director for any company or organization based in New York for three years following a civil trial due to overstating the value of real estate holdings.

Trump on Monday appealed the verdict to the New York Supreme Court, seeking to overturn the judgment.

New York Appeals Court Judge Anil Singh stayed some provisions of a judgment against Trump Wednesday, ruling that the former president must post the full amount of a bond to cover a $454 million judgement, but allowed him to seek loans to secure the amount needed.