I just read the syllabuses.
If Aaron Burr hadn't tried to subpoena President Jefferson's records and established the anti-Trump precedent relied upon by SCOTUS today, I don't know where we'd be.
And, to think, all these years I've been pissed at Burr for shooting that little prick Hamilton and for trying to start his own independent country in the Texas/Mexico area. Who would have thunk that I would ever say anything positive about Burr (a V-P whose personal avarice surely rivals Trump's Presidential greed).
Now that I've scanned all the opinions (I haven't read them in depth; doubt I will bother), the situation seems pretty straightforward:
First, remember the situation. The 2nd Circuit ruled against the President, and sent the case back down to the district court for further proceedings. So, this wasn't a final adjudication, which is why the talking heads are saying it might not be until after the election until the grand jury actually gets the documents.
Anyway, the majority affirmed the 2nd Circuit, so the case does get sent back down to district court.
Alito actually agreed with the majority that the President does not enjoy blanket immunity from subpoenas while in office. However, he agreed with the DOJ's argument that subpoenas issued to the President should withstand heightened scrutiny, and would have reversed the 2nd Circuit and sent the case back to examine the issue of heightened scrutiny.
Thomas also actually agreed with the majority on the blanket immunity question - Trump actually lost this key point 9-0 - but suggested that the President might successfully argue on the same grounds that, even if he is not immune from the issuance of a subpoena, enforcement of said subpoena should be enjoined while in office, and so he would have vacated the entire thing and sent it back to the district court to start over with this in mind. It's unclear whether anyone actually argued this point, or Thomas simply pulled it out of wherever Thomas pulls out his idiosyncratic ideas that regularly lead to him filing dissents that no one else signs.
Long story short, Trump lost this one just about as badly as someone can lose, but because it's been remanded with the understanding that Trump's legal team might still develop some arguments against at least some parts of the subpoena, anything they do come up with will require further appeals, delaying for some time the actual handing over of the documents to the grand jury.
