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'Total anti-Trump lib': Amy Coney Barrett’s surprise J6 dissent has MAGA fuming

Kathleen Culliton
and
Raw Story
28 June 2024

Former President Donald Trump's MAGA supporters are despairing over a surprising voice of dissent in the Supreme Court's Jan. 6 ruling — a move that legal experts believe means she will rule against Trump's presidential immunity claim.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett's decision to oppose the court's ruling — which raises the bar for prosecutors to prove Jan. 6-related cases — spurred several legal experts to suggest she may rule against absolute immunity for the former president.

"One more data point for immunity," wrote Lee Kovarsky, a law professor at the University of Texas. "Justice Barrett does NOT sound like someone who has changed her mind in Trump's direction since oral argument."

Trump in April presented arguments to the Supreme Court that his public office protected him from prosecution in special counsel Jack Smith's federal election interference case.

Smith argued Trump acted as a private citizen when he roused a mob of followers to attack the U.S. Capitol in a failed attempt to prevent President Joe Biden from taking office.

On Friday, Patrick Amoresano, a retired attorney and Republican, said Barrett, one of three justices appointed by the former president, was proving a surprise to those who believed she'd walk the conservative party line.

On Thursday, Barrett ruled in favor of a Biden administration policy and against conservative states that tried to block it.

"Barrett has become a real wildcard on the Court," wrote Amoresano. "One has to wonder how she'll vote on the issue of Trump's alleged immunity for election interference."

Ciara Torres-Spelliscy, a professor of Law at Stetson University, highlighted a specific passage from Barrett's dissent that she argues speaks volumes.

"By atextually narrowing §1512(c)(2)," Barrett wrote, "the Court has failed to respect the prerogatives of the political branches."

Torres-Spelliscy responded with a "wow" and added, "This could mean strange bedfellows for presidential immunity on Monday."

Several MAGA supporters took to X Friday morning to complain of a lack of loyalty to Trump and make a similar prediction.

"Barrett is going to rule against Pres. Immunity," declared @bucksdeplorable. "Complete and total anti-Trump lib."

"Amy Coney Barrett has been awful," added @MiddleMAGA.com. "I bet she dissents in the Trump immunity ruling."

Christian Vanderbrouk, a contributor to the Bulwark and onetime administration official of former President George W. Bush, echoed the prediction but not the sentiment.

"Barrett's dissent gives me hope for Trump's presidential immunity case," Vanderbrouk wrote.

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