'Surprisingly clear road map': Harvard prof says SCOTUS paved path to Trump conviction

Supreme Court Justice John Roberts' decision on Donald Trump's presidential immunity claim paved a path for Judge Tanya Chutkan to convict the former president, a Harvard Law School professor argued Thursday.

The controversial ruling granting limited immunity makes it possible for special counsel Jack Smith to land a conviction on federal election interference charges in Washington D.C.'s federal court, Prof. Richard Lazarus wrote in a Washington Post editorial.

"Roberts Jr.’s opinion offers a surprisingly clear road map for the successful felony prosecution of Trump," Lazarus argues. "[Chutkan] should follow that clear pathway without further delay."

Lazarus focused on the allegation that Trump conspired to overturn the 2020 election by spreading disinformation he knew to be false.

This allegation involves three acts Smith argues were criminal: Trump's in-person pressure campaign on election officials, the incitement of a mob at the "Stop the Steal" rally on Jan. 6, 2021, and his urging former Vice President Mike Pence to block certification of the election.

"At most, only one of these three acts is derailed by the Supreme Court’s ruling," Lazarus wrote, "leaving plenty of room for Trump’s conviction on multiple felony counts."

As proof, Lazarus pointed to Roberts' own words in his majority ruling on limited presidential immunity when conducting "official acts."

The Harvard professor argued Roberts sent a message to Chutkan that she was free to conclude Trump's conversations with public officials and speeches to the public were not official acts simply because he was president at the time.

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"Roberts’s opinion did not hesitate to make clear that Chutkan could legitimately conclude that all these contacts were unofficial in nature," Lazarus wrote. "The court carefully pointed out that 'this alleged conduct cannot be neatly categorized as falling within a particular Presidential function.'”

Lazarus said he doubts the case will be prosecuted before the November election but that a clear path lies ahead for Smith and his team.

"The bottom line is clear," Lazarus wrote. "Whether you are outraged by or sympathetic to the surprising sweep of the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity ruling, it nevertheless leaves the former president very much open to a successful felony prosecution."