What Will Happen to the Lawsuits Against Trump After His Reelection
Donald Trump became President-elect of the United States being a defendant in a criminal bribery case in New York. He has several other criminal and civil cases in which he is either a defendant or an accused. What will happen to all these legal proceedings now that Trump has been elected to the highest state office, the publication tried to figure out CNN.
Photo: Elliott Cowand Jr. | Dreamstime.com
It's a unique situation: Never before has a criminal defendant been elected to the U.S. presidency. But leaders who have stepped down from the nation's highest office have never faced criminal prosecution, either — at least until last year.
Trump has repeatedly said he plans to fire special counsel Jack Smith and drop federal cases against him for attempt to disrupt the certification of the 2020 presidential election results и mishandling of classified documents.
On the subject: Trump was again accused of trying to disrupt the elections: what does the new indictment say?
As of November 6, Smith was in active discussions with Justice Department leaders about how to drop the federal cases against Trump, a Justice Department official familiar with the matter told CNN.
Meanwhile, a New York judge is set to sentence Trump later this month. The jury has already found the politician guilty, and the judge must set the sentence. The sentencing was initially scheduled for September, but was then postponed until late November to avoid affecting the outcome of the presidential race. Trump's lawyers are expected to ask the judge to delay the sentencing again, citing the fact that the defendant is the elected president of the United States. Most likely, the sentence will be asked to be postponed for four years, until the end of the newly elected president's term.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Here's what you need to know about the cases against Trump.
New York case
Trump is due in court on November 26 to be sentenced on charges of falsifying business records to conceal hush money payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign to adult film star Stormy Daniels, who claimed she had an affair with Trump, which he denies.
Trump's legal team will try to prevent a conviction. It has previously used stalling tactics to try to get the case over with, but now it appears it will try to get it over with entirely, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Trump's lawyers are expected to file a brief in the coming days arguing that as president-elect, Trump is entitled to the same constitutional protections as a sitting president and should be immune from any action by state attorneys general (the case is being handled by a New York state attorney, not a federal prosecutor).
The plea is expected before the judge's November 12 deadline. The judge could grant Trump immunity and overturn the conviction, which would dismiss the charges.
But if the judge decides to uphold the conviction, Trump's lawyers will likely ask for a delay in sentencing so they can appeal. There will be a series of appeals, and the process will drag on again.
If the judge decides to sentence Trump on November 26, he could face up to four years in prison. But the judge is not required to sentence the president-elect to prison — he can impose a lesser sentence, such as probation, house arrest, community service, or a fine.
Of course, any conviction would be complicated by the fact that Trump is scheduled to take office on January 20, 2025. Trump's lawyers are likely to frame their appeals in a way that raises constitutional questions challenging a state judge's right to sentence the president-elect, which could drag the case through the courts for years.
Because this is a state matter, Trump does not have the authority to pardon himself in the year following his inauguration. The president can only pardon those convicted at the federal level.
Federal Cases in the District of Columbia and Florida
Trump’s election victory would likely have the biggest impact on two federal criminal cases filed against him in Washington, D.C., and Florida: for attempting to stop the certification of the 2020 election results and for illegally seizing classified documents from the White House and refusing to return them. Both cases have been stalled by appeals and lawsuits over whether Trump enjoys presidential immunity after leaving office.
Since the cases were filed in 2023, Trump’s main legal strategy has been to delay the trials until after the election. After the inauguration, he could fire the prosecutor in charge of the cases, Smith. That would result in both cases being dismissed. In late October, Trump said he would fire him: “I’ll fire him in two seconds.”
Discussions between Smith and Justice Department officials about the situation are expected to last several days. Justice Department officials are considering options for winding down the cases. Several people close to the special counsel's office said Smith is reluctant to drop the cases unless he is ordered to do so or fired.
Under federal law, Smith must provide the attorney general with a confidential report on the work of his office before leaving office.
The case is in Georgia
The fate of the criminal case against Trump in Georgia hinges largely on whether Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is disqualified from prosecuting the case after her romantic relationship with a fellow prosecutor was revealed. Criminal charges against Trump for trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election are effectively on hold while an appeals court decides whether to disqualify Willis. That decision is not expected until 2025.
Sources said if Willis is removed, it is unlikely another prosecutor will want to take on the case given Trump's new status, and the case will effectively be closed.
Unless Willis is disqualified, there is no clear answer to the question of whether a state attorney can prosecute a sitting president. Trump’s victory now forces Willis to face that constitutional question, in addition to the existing legal questions that have already cast doubt on the future of the Georgia case.
You may be interested in: top New York news, stories of our immigrants and helpful tips about life in the Big Apple - read it all on ForumDaily New York
Civil suits
The 45th president is also defending himself in a string of civil lawsuits, including those related to his role in the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, two libel cases against E. Jean Carroll, and a civil fraud case brought by the New York attorney general in which Trump was ordered to pay nearly $454 million in damages.
All of these cases are now being appealed by Trump's lawyers.
All of these civil cases are likely to continue even after Trump assumes his presidency. In a 1997 Supreme Court ruling in a civil lawsuit involving then-President Bill Clinton, the justices unanimously ruled that sitting presidents cannot invoke presidential immunity to avoid civil litigation.
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Trump's three criminal cases: what are the 78 counts against him, and what punishment does he face
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