Trump's election victory throws uncertainty into legal cases he faces

Source: The Guardian

Wed 6 Nov 2024 12.19 EST


Donald Trump’s victory over Kamala Harris immediately spurred questions about the viability of the various criminal cases against him, including whether he will be sentenced as planned this month – and whether he could pardon himself. Trump, who was found guilty of 34 felony counts this May and will become the first US president with a criminal record, also faces charges in other state and federal courts for his apparent efforts to disrupt the electoral process and hoard classified documents.

The president-elect also faces hundreds of millions of penalties in civil cases, for sexual abuse, defamation and fraud. Trump’s delay-based legal strategy, which has proved highly successful for him, could mean he avoids punishment and jail in his New York City criminal hush-money case. After the trial and guilty verdict, Trump was initially scheduled to be sentenced in July, then in September.

Trump’s lawyers then asked the judge, Juan Merchan, for a postponement this summer so he could weigh the US supreme court decision that granted broad immunity on former presidents for official acts in office. The decision held that unofficial acts carry no immunity, and his New York trial was largely focused on his 2016 efforts to bury negative stories about an alleged sexual encounter with an adult film star, which happened before his time in the White House.

Some of the prosecution evidence at trial, however, involved personal actions Trump took during his presidency, and in September Merchan decided to delay Trump’s scheduled sentencing that month until 26 November – after the election. He said he agreed to push back the proceeding “to avoid any appearance – however unwarranted – that the proceeding has been affected by or seeks to affect the approaching presidential election in which the defendant is a candidate”. Merchan also said he would issue his presidential immunity decision on 12 November, which could well render the sentencing moot should he rule in favor of Trump.


Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/06/trump-election-criminal-cases-status