I don’t think it’s an exaggeration at all to say the decision threatens the Republic. I might not have said so in 2015, before I saw how triumphantly lawless and autocratic the President could be, and how so many people would applaud it or at least shrug.
My friend and colleague Ken White has written a great thread describing some (but far from all) of the enormous problems with today's decision by Chief Justice Roberts granting Donald Trump criminal immunity on grounds never before accepted by any court. Today's decision threatens the Republic.
I find myself darkly comforted by the fact that Trump *was* as lawless and autocratic as he was even when there was a threat of being prosecuted.
It tells me that whatever else was holding this shit in check, “Trump’s fears of being prosecuted” were not the linchpin.
