Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/23pdf/23-939_e2pg.pdf
Page Number: 29

Cite as:  603 U. S. ____ (2024) 

21 

Opinion of the Court 

The indictment’s allegations that the requested investi-
gations were “sham[s]” or proposed for an improper purpose
do not divest the President of exclusive authority over the
investigative and prosecutorial functions of the Justice De-
partment  and  its  officials.    App.  186–187,  Indictment
¶10(c).  And the President cannot be prosecuted for conduct
within  his  exclusive  constitutional  authority.  Trump  is 
therefore  absolutely  immune  from  prosecution  for  the  al-
leged  conduct  involving  his  discussions  with  Justice  De-
partment officials. 

2 
The  indictment  next  alleges  that  Trump  and  his  co-
conspirators “attempted to enlist the Vice President to use 
his ceremonial role at the January 6 certification proceed-
ing to fraudulently alter the election results.”  Id., at 187, 
¶10(d).  In  particular,  the  indictment  alleges  several  con-
versations in which Trump pressured the Vice President to
reject States’ legitimate electoral votes or send them back 
to state legislatures for review.  See, e.g., id., at 222–224, 
226, ¶¶90, 92–93, 97.

The  Government  explained  at  oral  argument  that  alt-
hough  it  “has  not  yet  had  to  come  to  grips  with  how  [it]
would  analyze”  Trump’s  interactions  with  the  Vice  Presi-
dent, there is “support” to characterize that conduct as offi-
cial.  Tr. of Oral Arg. 128.  Indeed, our constitutional system 
anticipates that the President and Vice President will re-
main in close contact regarding their official duties over the 
course of the President’s term in office.  These two officials 
are the only ones “elected by the entire Nation.”  Seila Law, 
591 U. S., at 224; see Art. II, §1.  The Constitution provides
that “the Vice President shall become President” in the case 
of “the removal of the President from office or of his death 
or resignation.”  Amdt. 25, §1.  It also “empowers the Vice
President, together with a majority of the ‘principal officers