> Orders the Navy’s Seal Team 6 to assassinate a political rival? Immune.
There is no way that Sotomayor genuinely believes this. If Trump becomes president and is prosecuted again, I guarantee she'll argue that his crimes don't fall under the President's official duties.
I don't understand how you could not believe this under the majority opinion. The constitution is very clear that supreme command of the armed forces falls to the Commander-in-Chief. The President. It must follow that when the president directs the armed forces he is performing an official action that is exclusively given to him via the constitution. If that is not an official action, then what is? There is nothing in the constitution directing how the president should direct the armed forces. And it follows from that if its an official action then he is immune.
If Donald Trump ordered the military to manicure the lawn at Mar-a-Lago, would that be considered an official act? Obviously not. The Emoluments Clause dictates that all federal officeholders cannot benefit from their positions besides their direct compensation.
I don't think that the Domestic Emoluments Clause's concept of "Emolument" goes so far as to apply to the death of a political opponent. Suppose that I'm a manager at a corporate job and the second-most likely candidate for a promotion. If I order a subordinate to kill the most likely candidate and I get promoted, I don't think that the prosecutor would think to add a "prohibited employment compensation" charge on top of the inevitable "conspiracy" and "first degree murder" charges.
(In a previous version of my comment, I thought that the previous commenter was referring to the Foreign Emoluments Clause and cluelessly asked whether there was a domestic version.)
> If I order a subordinate to kill the most likely candidate and I get promoted, I don't think that the prosecutor would think to add a "prohibited employment compensation" charge
They would if you had used your company credit card to pay a hitman though. Perhaps this isn't the strongest argument for why the military for a political assassination isn't an official act. My point still stands though that all limitations of the powers of the President are still there, so not everything they do will be considered an official act.
There is no way that Sotomayor genuinely believes this. If Trump becomes president and is prosecuted again, I guarantee she'll argue that his crimes don't fall under the President's official duties.