Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York has announced plans to draft legislation that would allow former President Trump to be held accountable for his actions after the 2020 election.
Schumer said his proposed bill would classify Trump's actions challenging the results of the 2020 election as “unofficial” and strip him of the immunity granted by a recent Supreme Court decision.
The ruling, handed down July 2, concluded that the president retains effective immunity from prosecution for acts committed while in office.
“American democracy now stands at a dangerous crossroads,” Schumer said in recent remarks to the Senate floor, calling Trump's actions an “act of subversion of an election.”
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President Trump and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York argue before a meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., on December 11, 2018. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
“[The Supreme Court] “Former President Donald Trump falsely declared that he enjoyed broad immunity from criminal prosecution for acts he committed while in office.”
Schumer also compared Trump to former President Richard Nixon, arguing that the court agreed with Nixon's iconic defense of journalist David Frost in 1977.
“If the president does it, it's not illegal,” Schumer recalled.
“We were taught in grade school that America doesn't have kings, but what these conservative judges have done is essentially put a crown on Donald Trump's head,” he continued.
Schumer also predicted that if Trump is elected, the Supreme Court will continue to hand down “catastrophic decisions” and that January 6, 2021, will mark the beginning of chaos in the United States.
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Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, and former President Trump.
“Donald Trump and the MAGA right are opposed by the vast majority of Americans and would plunge our country into an abyss of extremism the likes of which America has never seen before,” he said.
Schumer did not respond to a request for further comment.
Brian Hughes, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign, slammed Schumer's announcement and said he, like other “Biden Democrats,” would do anything to “weaponize” the justice system against the Republican candidate.
“The unconstitutional undermining of the Supreme Court's independence is just the latest demonstration of this corrupt insanity,” Hughes said.
“The Supreme Court correctly protected the powers of not only President Donald Trump but all presidents, which are fundamental to the balance of power between the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government.”
The bill text could not yet be found on the official congressional website, but Schumer's plan was preceded by bills introduced by other leading Democrats that were likely to address Trump's actions while in office.
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), currently a candidate for the California Senate, drafted a comprehensive bill in July 2023 called the Protecting Democracy Act.
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Former President Trump. (Getty Images)
The 225-page bill addresses issues such as congressional oversight of presidential pardons, a focus on presidential “emoluments” and a section titled “Ensuring that no president is above the law.”
Another Democrat, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, has previously drafted legislation criticizing the Supreme Court.
While announcing the bill, he said he believes the courts are “in the hands of special interests, just like the Railroad Commission in the 1890s was taken over by railroad tycoons who got their way.”
Charles Kreitz is a reporter for Fox News Digital.
He joined Fox News in 2013 as a writer and production assistant.
Charles covers media, politics and culture for Fox News Digital.
A Pennsylvania native, Charles earned his bachelor's degree in broadcast journalism from Temple University. Send your story tips to charles.creitz@fox.com.