Trump, President with all powers and convicted criminal: What legal future awaits him? , usa elections

The landslide victory of Donald Trump, who will become president again in the most unusual political comeback in American history, broke a long list of precedents in the early hours of this Wednesday: It had been more than a century since a president Took over the post of President again. Four years after leaving the White House, there has never been a case of a convicted criminal (guilty of 34 felonies, according to a New York jury) being chosen to direct the designs of a first world power.

Nor was he going to do so by concentrating so much power in his own hands: the Republican Party has conquered the Senate and is on its way to doing so once the vote counting is finished, a task that still takes many It may take days, with the House of Representatives. Which, combined with the fact that the Supreme Court has a super-conservative majority of six justices not seen since the 1930s and three of those justices were appointed by Trump himself, paints an extraordinary picture, In which one leader has control over all three. Levels of power in Washington: executive, legislative, and judicial.

The first unknowns about the new, seemingly omnipotent President affect his criminal future, and how this concentration of power might affect him. In addition to the case in which he was found guilty of crimes related to black money payments to keep actress Stormy Daniels silent about an extramarital affair, Trump faces three other criminal proceedings: one in Florida, dealing with the so-called for the Mar-a-Lago papers, dozens of boxes of classified documents that he took without permission from the White House when he reluctantly gave it up after instigating the attack on the Capitol; Atlanta, where he is being prosecuted for attempted coup in the state of Georgia in 2020; and Washington, the city where he is accused of orchestrating the events that led to the January 6, 2021 insurrection.

What future awaits you in New York?

The first deadline in their procedural horizon is set for November 26, when it is scheduled to be read a sentence postponed on two occasions, thanks, among other things, to the brilliant delay tactics of the future president’s lawyers. However, the judge in the case, Juan Merchan, has given himself until next Tuesday to decide whether to overturn the sentence, noting that the Supreme Court had decided in a ruling in early July that Trump – and by extension, anyone in his position – has been given a free hand in his performance. If Marchen finds that the ruling applies to the case at hand, the prisoner will not be sentenced.

If the judge decides otherwise, Trump’s lawyers are expected to request a stay so they can appeal, and Marchant will grant it. Conceivably, after all avenues have been exhausted, the matter may again end up with that supreme friend. This delay may be contradicted by the fact that by then it would be a question of censuring the President and not a candidate, and there is no precedent for it. Given all these complexities, the judge has another option: impose a sentence less than the maximum four years provided by law for a case like Trump’s: either probation, house arrest, community service or a fine.

And in the other three cases?

Unlike the Manhattan criminal trial, the other three trials are for federal crimes. Two of them, one in Florida and one in Washington, have one more thing in common: Both are instructed by special prosecutor Jack Smith, who is Trump’s true enemy and one of the highest names on his “enemies list.” (Quotes are from Democratic candidate Kamala Harris). The defendant has promised to get rid of Smith. “I’d fire him in two seconds,” he told a conservative radio host during the campaign. “Oh, that would be very easy. That simple.” This dismissal would allow Trump, once he regains control of the Justice Department, which appointed Smith, to drop those charges.

Republican statements about the ease of hypothetical dismissal raise another question: What does the special prosecutor, a long-established figure in American presidential history from Richard Nixon to Bill Clinton, plan to do about it? It depends on whether the status of the elected President is equal to that of the Acting President or not. If they’re considered the same thing, Smith’s days are numbered. If not, they have until Jan. 20 to stand trial, the day Trump will be sworn in for a second term as president in front of the Capitol.

The Washington case, where a federal judge is judging his efforts to overturn the electoral results of the 2020 elections in which Joe Biden clearly won, was the case that inspired the Supreme Court decision that blocked House Blanca’s If a tenant has been granted partial exemption, now is the time to know how much impact that decision has on him. In the Mar-a-Lago role, Trump has had a staunch ally in the judge leading him, Eileen Cannon, who was appointed in the first round of White House magnates. In July, two days after the first assassination attempt against Trump, Cannon dismissed the figure of a special prosecutor with an extensive background as unconstitutional. That decision has been appealed.

Then what happens to the Atlanta one?

This is yet another case of Trump’s defense strategy falling flat. It remains to be seen whether Fulton County (Georgia) Prosecutor Fani Willis is disqualified for having a romantic relationship with another prosecutor. And this will not be known until 2025. It seems quite clear that if he is removed from the case, no one will dare to finish the job he started if, among other things, Trump is already installed in the Oval Office, Because it is not clear that a state prosecutor can torture a President in the exercise of his office.

Can Trump pardon himself?

Can. In all cases, except one, of New York. The 34 crimes of which he was found guilty have state status and the federal power of the President does not reach there.

Speaking of pardons, Trump has also promised to release from prison hundreds of Capitol attackers who are serving time for the violent day that left at least 140 police officers injured, one dead. and three rebels lost their lives. The new president, who has denounced his judicial troubles as “political persecution”, considers these prisoners to be “hostages” of a “brutal democratic system”.

And would he become president in the unlikely event that he were jailed?

The short answer is yes. There was a possibility that his legal troubles would persuade voters to return him to the White House. With that option spectacularly rejected, all that’s left is to turn to the law, and the U.S. Constitution not only doesn’t prevent Trump from aspiring to office (despite being a convicted felon, he’s been barred from voting in Florida. Was not even banned from doing); Nor does it contemplate barring a person convicted by federal justice from becoming president, even if he is in prison, unless he is in prison for a very specific crime: that of rebellion. And, while it may be debated whether his role in the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, fits that definition, it has also been ruled out: In the four cases opened against him, he faces 91 charges. have to face, but none of this is revolting to them.