Trump elected president: what happens to the lawsuits against him? | US elections 2024

Donald Trump has many reasons to celebrate his victory in the US presidential election, but one in particular stands out.

The newly elected president could now be freed from the criminal cases hanging over him like a sword of Damocles – at least as long as he remains in the White House.

Over the past year, Trump has faced four concurrent prosecutions, two of which were related to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, one for mishandling top-secret state documents and one for his hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels. .

Just hours after his declared victory on Wednesday, federal officials were already looking for ways to wrap up two cases involving election interference and the mishandling of classified documents, under the assumption that sitting U.S. presidents cannot be removed while in office persecuted or imprisoned.

This assumption is based on a long-standing U.S. Department of Justice policy, dating back to 1973 and reaffirmed in 2000, which states that sitting presidents cannot be tried or imprisoned while in office.

Trump could be further emboldened by a Supreme Court ruling in July granting presidents “absolute immunity” from prosecution for official acts and a presumption of immunity for broader crimes when ties to the job can be proven — no matter how briefly.

As Trump prepares to be sworn in in January, here are the key charge sheets that may now be hidden in the back of a dusty drawer in the Oval Office:

Federal charges

Trump is facing two separate federal cases over his alleged interference in the 2020 election and hoarding of top-secret documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. Both charges were filed by Justice Department Special Counsel Jack Smith.

In light of Trump’s election as president, Smith will likely settle both matters, avoiding a confrontation with the newly elected president, who has previously promised to fire him “within two seconds” of taking office.

Attorney James Trusty, who represented Trump in both cases, said the Justice Department may be reluctant to “pull the plug on the charges.”

“Politically, I think they would prefer to have the fingerprints of the new Trump administration on the termination of the cases,” he told Reuters.

The two cases are as follows:

Interference in the 2020 elections

In 2022, Smith was tasked by a U.S. House of Representatives committee to investigate Trump’s alleged attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election, before the bloody attack on the U.S. Capitol by his supporters on 6 January 2021.

The following year, Smith charged Trump with four crimes, including conspiracy to defraud the US and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding.

Federal Judge Tanya Chutkan scheduled a trial in Washington, D.C., in March, which was postponed after Trump said that as a former president he should be entitled to immunity.

In July, the Supreme Court sided with Trump’s arguments and granted presidents broad immunity from prosecution, even for personal crimes where a connection to the job could be proven.

Smith refiled the case in August, arguing that the alleged crimes were not related to the former president’s official duties.

Top secret document case

In a case filed in Florida in 2022, Smith also accused Trump of hoarding top-secret documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and obstructing the FBI’s efforts to recover them.

FBI agents recovered more than 100 classified documents, and Trump’s lawyers ultimately turned over four more documents found in his bedroom.

In July, Florida-based federal judge Aileen Cannon, who was nominated to the court by Trump in 2020, dismissed the charges, ruling that Smith’s appointment as prosecutor had not been approved by Congress and was therefore unconstitutional. Smith disputed Cannon’s ruling.

State costs

Trump has also fought two cases brought by prosecutors in New York and Georgia.

The two cases are as follows:

Stormy Daniel’s hush money case

After being found guilty by a Manhattan jury in May of falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 presidential election, Trump will be the first president to enter the White House with a criminal record.

Trump, who claimed the trial was a “witch hunt,” wanted to stop Daniels from revealing an alleged 2006 sexual encounter for fear it would hurt him during the 2016 campaign. He was convicted of all 34 charges against him in that case.

Theoretically, he could receive a prison sentence of four years. But even before this week’s election victory, some legal experts were convinced that the first offender would most likely get off with a fine and probation.

Judge Juan Merchan was scheduled to sentence Trump on November 26, a hearing that is now unlikely to take place.

Merchan had already postponed Trump’s sentencing, initially scheduled for July 11, twice, in part because of the Supreme Court’s July ruling on presidential immunity.

In the unlikely event that the sentencing hearing goes ahead, a deferred sentence could be possible “if there is a prison sentence,” University of Pennsylvania law professor Claire Finkelstein told AFP news agency.

Trump has argued that the case should be dismissed entirely based on the ruling on presidential immunity, which prosecutors had challenged before the election.

If he is unable to get the case dismissed, the convicted felon could potentially face lingering headaches once he leaves office.

‘Extortion case’ in Georgia

Trump faces more criminal charges over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in the battleground state of Georgia.

Joe Biden narrowly won the state and the presidency, but Trump and his allies would continue to spread misinformation about voter fraud, leaning on officials and lawmakers in Georgia to overturn the result.

Last year, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis accused Trump and 18 co-defendants of launching a “criminal enterprise” to keep the former president in power, basing the charges on state racketeering laws designed to to tackle gangsters.

But the trial took on a soap opera atmosphere after revelations that Willis had a romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, a man she hired. In January, Michael Roman, one of Trump’s co-defendants, filed a motion accusing her of impropriety.

In March, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee ruled that Willis could stay if Wade left. Wade promptly resigned, allowing Willis – reprimanded by the judge for her “huge” error in judgment – ​​to continue prosecuting the case.

Earlier that month, McAfee had dismissed six of the 41 charges in the indictment against Georgia. All six focused on whether Trump and his co-defendants asked elected officials to violate their oaths of office in their effort to overturn the election results.

Trump and eight of his co-defendants in the case are now asking a Georgia appeals court to disqualify Willis because of her alleged misconduct. Oral arguments were scheduled for December 5.

It is unclear whether the hearing will go ahead. But even if Willis continues to handle the case, legal experts say it is unlikely she will be able to pursue the case against Trump while he is in power.

Anthony Michael Kreis, a professor at the Georgia State College of Law, said on X that the case will not move forward until Trump leaves office in 2029.

“By the end of the second Trump administration, will there be any political will to try him in Georgia? That is long after the first crimes,” he said in a message.

So it looks like Trump is off the hook – at least for now.