Chief justice Roberts pushed for quick immunity ruling in Trump’s favor - report

John Roberts Jr used his position as the US supreme court's chief justice to urge his colleagues to rule quickly - and in favor - of Donald Trump ahead of the decision that granted him and other presidents immunity for official acts, according to a New York Times investigation published on Sunday.

The new report provides details about what was happening behind the scenes in the country's highest court during the three recent supreme court decisions centering on - and generally favoring - the Republican former president.

Based on leaked memos, documentation of the proceedings, and interviews with court insiders, the Times report suggests that Roberts - who was appointed to the supreme court during Republican George W Bush's presidency - took an unusually active role in the three cases in question. And he wrote the majority opinions on all three.

In addition to the presidential immunity ruling, the decisions collectively barred states from removing any official - including Trump - from a federal ballot as well as declaring the government had overstepped with respect to obstruction of justice charges filed against participants of the 6 January 2021 attack that the former president's supporters aimed at Congress.

The Times reported that last February, Roberts sent a memo to his fellow supreme court justices regarding the criminal charges against Trump for attempting to overturn the result of the 2020 election that he lost to Joe Biden.

In the leaked memo, the Times reported that he criticized a lower court decision that allowed the case to move forward - and he argued to the other justices that Trump was protected by presidential immunity. He reportedly said that the supreme court ought to hear the case and grant Trump greater protection from prosecution.

"I think it likely that we will view the separation of powers analysis differently," the Times said that Roberts wrote to the other supreme court justices in the private memo.