Crockett Statement on SCOTUS Presidential Immunity Ruling

WASHINGTON — July 1, Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett (TX-30) released the following statement responding to  the decision by the United States Supreme Court in Trump v. United States:

“Today, six Justices handed down a decision that clears the way for a U.S. President to weaponize our executive agencies, weaponize his Vice President, weaponize our military, weaponize state-level officials, and weaponize federal law enforcement officers, without any fear of criminal prosecution if clouded under the guise of official duty. It is a complete repudiation of the credo etched above the entrance in which these Justices sit: ‘Equal Justice Under Law’.



“To quote the Majority’s decision, ‘the President, unlike anyone else in our country, is comparatively free to engage in criminal acts in furtherance of his official duties,’ and ‘courts may not inquire into the President’s motives.’
So what are we, as Americans, left with? As Justice Jackson puts it: ‘whether the President will be exempt from legal liability for murder, assault, theft, fraud or any other reprehensible and outlawed criminal act’ will turn on a judge’s determination.

“Let us be clear: not only is the outcome of today’s decision deeply flawed, so too was the judicial process that enabled it to move forward. Make no mistake—Justices Thomas and Alito should NEVER have taken part in determining the outcome of this case. Justice Thomas should have been immediately precluded due to his wife’s active involvement with President Trump’s Chief of Staff as they worked to overturn the 2020 election, raising a clear conflict of interest in the outcome of this case. Justice Alito’s recent remarks and actions also illustrate a clear inability to be unbiased in the outcome of this ruling. Yet, despite these egregious actions, this Court has enabled itself to be a separate, UNEQUAL branch of government—one which has repeatedly operated without basic judicial ethics, without oversight, and without accountability.



“While today’s ruling will leave shocks felt throughout our judicial system, it is the American people and Congress who must check this institution and build back the system of government our Founding Fathers envisioned before it was too late. As a co-chair of the Congressional Court Reform Now Task Force, I am here to say it is time Congress fulfill its constitutional duty to ensure our Court is accountable, transparent, and protects the law and the American people rather than the special interests of wealthy donors. It is time we safeguard our democracy by preventing the appointment of judges who will overturn decades of precedent all due to their own blatantly political biases.

“In his response to the question of whether the fledgling United States will be a republic or a monarchy, Benjamin Franklin responded, “A Republic, if you can keep it.” That is the same question being asked of us today, and we are running out of time to answer it. We must reform the Supreme Court now if we are to survive as a republic and a democracy – it is that simple.”