How have presidents not been paralyzed by fear of prosecution until now? Strange that only now, with a super majority of conservatives and a 'conservative' for

How have presidents not been paralyzed by fear of prosecution until now? Strange that only now, with a super majority of conservatives and a 'conservative' former president facing insurrection charges, that such a ruling should come down. And all this after McConnell assured us that impeachment wasn't appropriate for a 'criminal' matter like January 6.