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    • How Trump’s victory could delay (or erase) his legal troubles
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    How Trump’s victory could delay (or erase) his legal troubles

    Harry Posted on

    A Trump-appointed attorney general could drop two federal cases, and legal experts say state cases in New York and Georgia will likely have to wait until the end of his term.

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    • Trump’s sentencing in the New York hush money case is set for Nov. 26, but experts say the trial or sentencing will likely be delayed until after Trump’s term ends.
    • A provision in the Constitution called the supremacy clause likely protects Trump from state charges in Georgia, his lawyers and some legal experts say.

    Suddenly a former president Donald Trump‘s criminal(mis)fortunes have changed.

    The next president of the United States technically still faces criminal charges. New York hush money case on November 26, but Trump’s victory on Tuesday night means Judge Juan Merchan faces an unprecedented question: Sentencing the president-elect who is preparing for duty.

    Even if sentencing is suggested, legal experts widely agree that a sentence that would seriously impact the presidency is off the table. Before Tuesday, Trump was facing a potential prison sentence – although probation is also an option.

    “The convictions in New York don’t matter at this point,” says Asha Rangappa, an attorney and former FBI special agent who is now associate dean at Yale University’s Jackson School of Global Affairs. Published on X.

    And that’s just Trump’s New York case. His return to the White House also means Trump could tell the Justice Department to drop two federal criminal charges, one over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and the other over his hoarding of classified documents.

    “Now that Trump won, his criminal problems are gone,” said Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor who is now president of West Coast Trial Lawyers. “It is certain that a sitting president cannot be prosecuted, so the election fraud case in D.C. District Court will be dismissed and the Department of Justice will waive its Eleventh Circuit appeal of the dismissal of the classified documents case.”

    Trump has said he may fire Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith, who is the prosecutor in his federal cases. “It’s easy; I could fire him in two seconds.” Trump told radio host Hugh Hewitt On October 24th.

    finally there Georgia indictment He accuses Trump of interfering in the 2020 election. That would raise legal questions about whether a criminal case in the state could proceed if he interfered with the presidency.

    Regarding the Georgia case, Rahmani said, “Trump, like every defendant, has the right to a speedy trial, so staying or postponing the cases for four years until he is removed from office will not be an option.”

    But the status of the cases in the state (the criminal case in New York and the Georgia case) is unclear.

    “I think we’re in uncharted territory,” Cardozo School of Law professor Alexander Reiner said of how state courts would navigate a defendant residing in the White House.

    Here’s where Trump’s pending criminal cases stand and where they go from here:

    Upcoming sentences in New York hush money case

    Trump is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 26 after a jury found him guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal hush money payments to Trump. porn star Stormy Daniels Before the 2016 elections. But his lawyers may soon argue that moving forward would violate the Constitution by unlawfully interfering with his responsibilities as president-elect and later president.

    The Ministry of Justice also made a similar statement 2000 grade that prosecuting a sitting president would “unnecessarily interfere with the ability of the executive branch to carry out its constitutionally assigned duties.”

    The department’s policy is not binding on the state attorney’s office or the state court. But prosecutors will likely avoid encroaching on the federal government’s powers. Supremacy according to the Constitution.

    “There’s a feeling out there that the feds are going to follow their norms and therefore delay sentencing in the New York case until after he finishes his presidency,” said Robert Weisberg, a Stanford law professor who teaches criminal law and procedures. he told USA TODAY.

    Immunity question

    Being president isn’t the only argument Trump is using to avoid his Nov. 26 court date.

    Judge Merchan is scheduled to decide on November 12 whether Trump’s May conviction should stand after this incident. of the Supreme Court next Presidential immunity decision Prohibiting the use of certain evidence obtained from a president’s official actions to prosecute him.

    Embers defends his conviction – and even the indictment – should be thrown out Because some evidence contradicts the immunity decision.

    If Merchan rules that Trump’s conviction should stand and the sentence should be handed down two weeks later, the former president could still appeal the decision and try to get a higher court to delay the sentence until the appeal is resolved.

    Merchan may punish real estate mogul nothingwith several years in prisonor something in between. Trump will likely object to any prison sentence, arguing that it amounts to an unconstitutional intrusion into the presidency.

    Trump may make Justice Department drop federal cases

    Trump said he would fire and possibly even imprison federal prosecutor Smith.

    “I won’t keep him” Trump told Breitbart News in July 2023. “Jack Smith? Why would I hold him? He’s off balance.”

    The next day, Trump said in a post on Truth Social that Smith should be in jail.

    “They should put Deranged Jack Smith and his Thug Prosecutors in jail, along with Meritless Garland and Trump Hater Lisa Monaco.” Trump said in his post on Truth Social: in July 2023, citing Attorney General Merrick Garland and Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco. “They have fully armed the Ministry of Injustice.”

    Garland many times Trump denied the accusations They were politically motivated. “Justice Department prosecutors are non-partisan,” he said. “They do not allow partisan considerations to play any role in their decisions.”

    Trump claims he could pardon himself

    Article 2 of the Constitution states that the president “shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for crimes against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.”

    Trump has said he could pardon himself, but that remains a matter of legal debate.

    “As numerous legal experts have stated, I have the absolute right to be pardoned.” In a 2018 post on X, Trump said:formerly Twitter.

    Some law professors say A president can pardon himself, when others disagree.

    “President Trump could openly pardon anyone subject to the Mueller investigation, even himself,” John Yoo, a law professor at the University of California at Berkeley and a former deputy attorney general in the George W. Bush administration, wrote in 2017. Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.

    But four days before Richard Nixon’s resignation in 1974, assistant attorney general Mary Lawton wrote: “Under the basic rule No one can be the judge of his own case“A president couldn’t pardon himself.”

    What about Trump’s federal election charges?

    U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan is considering whether to dismiss some or all of the charges against Trump, which accuse him of conspiring to steal the 2020 election and obstructing Congress from counting the Electoral College votes.

    Chutkan will rule, based on the Supreme Court’s July decision, that Trump is likely immune from charges for official acts but vulnerable to charges for private acts. Its decision can be appealed again to the Supreme Court.

    Trump is accused of conspiring to overturn the 2020 election and forcing state lawmakers to overturn the election results and elect “fake” Republican presidential electors, making false claims about widespread election fraud, and obstructing Congress to send a group of supporters to the Capitol in January 6, 2021, where they rebelled.

    Smith argued that Trump acted for his own personal gain rather than serving in public office. But Trump, The person, who has not admitted guilt, argues that the entire case should be dropped, based on the president’s immunity.

    Secret documents case already dismissed, but appeal could be overturned

    The dismissal of another federal lawsuit accusing Trump of hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago mansion after leaving the White House is under appeal.

    U.S. District Judge Aileen Can denied the accusations Smith’s appointment was ruled illegitimate.

    Accusations indict Trump More than 100 national security documents containing some of the nation’s most closely guarded secrets were unlawfully withheld for a year and a half after he left the White House.

    Smith asked 11This The U.S. Court of Appeals in Atlanta will overturn Cannon’s decision.

    Trump, who does not accept his guilt, argued many times However, he said that he could take his records with him after he left the White House. Presidential Records Act Ownership is vested in the National Archives and Records Administration. Trump also argues that he declassified the records, although there is no documentation to support his claim.

    Georgia charges stand even if federal lawsuits are dismissed

    Georgia election racketeering charges against Trump could continue even if federal charges are dropped.

    Trump is accused of conspiring to urge state lawmakers to replace the state’s presidential electors with Republicans despite Democratic President Joe Biden’s 2020 Georgia victory. Trump is also accused of inciting a public official to violate his oath of office because he asked Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” him enough votes to win.

    Trump maintained that replacement electors had been recruited should he win the legal challenges and that his call for Raffensperger to investigate election fraud was “perfect.” He pleaded not guilty.

    The Georgia Court of Appeals is scheduled to hear arguments in this matter on December 5. Whether Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis will be removed from office He was suspended from the prosecutor’s office because of his romantic relationship with another prosecutor.

    Trump’s lawyer Stege Sadow said: The provision called the supremacy clause in the Constitution This puts federal law above state law, and he argued that the Georgia case should be postponed until after his term as president.

    “I believe that under the supremacy clause and his duties as president of the United States, this hearing cannot take place until he leaves office,” Sadow said. He told Fulton County Superior Judge Scott McAfee In December.

    Harry
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