‘Immunity’: How Donald Trump’s presidency could affect his criminal court cases

Donald Trump looks set to play his presidential immunity card – which could get him off the hook in multiple criminal cases against him.

Donald Trump has been up to his neck in legal battles in recent years.

But now that he’s President-elect, most of the cases against him are likely to be delayed or dropped entirely.

“The American people have re-elected President Trump with an overwhelming mandate to Make America Great Again,” Trump Campaign Spokesman Steven Chung said in a statement. “It is now abundantly clear that Americans want an immediate end to the weaponization of our justice system, so we can, as President Trump said in his historic speech last night, unify our country and work together for the betterment of our nation.”

As it stands, Mr Trump is awaiting sentencing in his New York hush money case, in which he was convicted on 34 federal felony counts earlier this year, and at worst faces prison time.

A sentencing hearing was scheduled for November 26.

Donald Trump pictured at his criminal trial at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City, on May 30, 2024. Picture: AFP.

It begs the question: If his November 26 sentencing goes ahead, is there a chance that Mr Trump could serve some or all of his presidency from behind bars?

And what is likely to now come of the other state and federal criminal cases that he is still fighting?

Read on to find out more.

Federal cases in DC and Florida

Mr Trump’s election victory is poised to have the greatest impact on the two federal criminal cases brought against him by Special Counsel Jack Smith in Washington D.C. and Florida.

Mr Smith has reportedly already started discussions with Justice Department officials about how to wind down the cases he brought against Mr Trump – who has repeatedly said he plans to fire Mr Smith if he becomes president again.

“Oh, it’s so easy. It’s so easy,” Mr Trump said in October this year when asked by a radio host whether he would “pardon yourself” or “fire Jack Smith” if re-elected.

“I would fire him within two seconds,” Mr Trump responded.

Donald Trump's residence in Mar-A-Lago, Palm Beach, Florida. Picture: AFP.

A US president does not have the power to dismiss a special counsel, but Mr Trump could name an attorney general who does have the authority to do it for him. He could also simply order the Justice Department to drop the charges.

To further complicate the matter, by convention, a sitting president cannot be indicted or criminally prosecuted in the US, as per a longstanding Justice Department policy which states that such a prosecution would “unduly interfere in a direct or formal sense with the conduct of the presidency”.

Mr Smith is overseeing one case in D.C. in which Mr Trump is charged with conspiring to overturn the 2020 presidential election, and another case in Florida where he was charged with illegally retaining sensitive documents and obstructing government efforts to retrieve them.

The classified documents allegedly seized at Mar-a-Lago. Picture: AFP.

The election interference case is ongoing in Washington but no trial date has been set, with the case turned on its head by the Supreme Court ruling in July that a former president has broad immunity from criminal prosecution for his official acts.

The trial judge in the documents case, a Trump appointee, dismissed that indictment earlier this year, but prosecutors have been in the process of appealing her decision.

The US Supreme Court ruled in July that a former president has broad immunity from criminal prosecution. Picture: AFP.

Hush money case

In May this year, Mr Trump was convicted in New York on 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels on the eve of the 2016 election, to stop her from speaking about an alleged affair.

Mr Trump was scheduled to be sentenced in July, but his lawyers asked that his conviction be tossed in light of the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling.

Judge Juan Merchan is set to rule on whether or not to dismiss the case by November 12, and has set sentencing – should it still be necessary – for November 26.

If the judge decides to uphold the conviction, the president-elect’s lawyers are likely to push for a delay in Mr Trump’s sentencing so they can appeal. If that fails, they still have the option to appeal the immunity decision to state appellate courts and potentially even the US Supreme Court to ask the courts to delay Mr Trump’s sentencing until all appeals are exhausted, which could take months.

Stormy Daniels said she had a sexual relationship with Donald Trump. Picture: Peacock.

Mr Trump, the first former president convicted of a crime, faces up to four years in prison on each count. As a first-time offender, however, he is far more likely to receive a fine and probation – if the sentencing goes ahead.

Whatever happens, it will be greatly impacted by the fact that Mr Trump is set to take office on January 20, 2025.

This opens the door for Mr Trump’s lawyers to then hang their appeals on constitutional issues that challenge whether a state judge can sentence a president-elect, which could tie the case up in courts for years.

Mr Trump will not have the power to pardon himself in this matter once he is sworn into office because that only applies to federal cases, and this one is state-based.

Georgia RICO case

In Georgia, Trump faces federal racketeering charges over his efforts to subvert the state’s 2020 election results, but that case will likely be put on pause.

The case has also been bogged down in accusations of impropriety by the Fulton County district attorney, Fani Willis, who had an intimate relationship with the man she hired to be a special prosecutor.

The criminal charges again Mr Trump for attempting to overturn the 2020 presidential election results are effectively on hold while the appeals court decides whether to disqualify Ms Willis, a decision that is not expected until 2025.

– with AFP

Originally published as ‘Immunity’: How Donald Trump’s presidency could affect his criminal court cases