Face it — the Supreme Court of the United States is no longer a court of law. It is today a MAGA court, firmly in the camp of Donald Trump; on a good day a MAGA enabler, on a bad day something else. Wednesday was a bad day.

Justice William Brennan, when asked how the majority could come up with a flagrantly unjust decision, answered holding up his hand and wriggling five fingers: “Five votes. Five votes can do anything around here.” As of Wednesday, MAGA had the votes. There are two hard-right justices from a bygone era, joined by the three appointed by Trump himself.

The court has never in its 235 year history had occasion to rule on whether a president has immunity from criminal prosecution for everything he did in office. It will probably rule that Trump had immunity from prosecution for some official acts, but not for others outside the scope of his official duties (the distinction between office-holder conduct and office-seeker conduct) — like trying to overturn an election and prevent his successor from taking office, in breach of the Constitution.

Special Counsel Jack Smith’s convincing D.C. indictment places Trump at the heart of a criminal conspiracy to overturn the election with the means of the enterprise including the fake electors’ scheme; the effort to pressure his vice president not to certify the count; orchestrating an insurrection at the Capitol; and taking no step to stop the violence for three suspenseful hours that we all saw on national television. He is entitled to a speedy and public trial of these charges under the Sixth Amendment, and it inexorably........

© The Hill