Donald Trump would face jail time if convicted for racketeering in Georgia

The latest criminal charges against former US President Donald Trump are the most serious yet for two reasons. See why.

Few of America’s most hardened criminals can boast a rap sheet like Donald Trump’s. In the past five months, he’s racked up four sets of criminal charges across four jurisdictions.

It’s hard to keep up. But this latest indictment, filed by prosecutors in Georgia, might just be the most important as the former president plots a return to power next year.

Privately, Trump’s advisers concede his 2024 campaign is largely motivated by regaining the legal protections offered by the Oval Office. His increasingly vitriolic speeches and social media posts make that clear – Trump is no longer fighting for his supporters but for himself.

Former US president Donald Trump is facing more criminal charges. Picture: AFP

He is already facing two lots of federal charges, connected to his mishandling of classified documents after leaving the White House and his efforts to overturn his 2020 presidential election defeat against Joe Biden.

If Trump wins a rematch next year, he could appoint a new attorney general on the proviso that they instruct the Justice Department to toss out these cases against him. He could even pardon himself, although that is still up for debate in what is an extraordinarily unprecedented situation.

The Georgia charges are different for two key reasons: they are brought by prosecutors over whom the federal government has no control, and they are laid at a state level where presidential pardons do not apply.

It is a similar story in New York, where Trump was first charged in April over hush money payments to a porn star who claimed to have slept with him. But being found not guilty in Manhattan is unlikely to result in much more than a slap on the wrist.

In Georgia, however, a conviction on serious charges including a breach of the state’s racketeering laws – typically used to target crime gangs – would spell jail time for Trump.

This all remains entirely hypothetical. And yet, poll after poll gives him a very real shot at running in and winning next year’s election, so it’s worth asking the question: could the world’s most powerful job be done from the big house instead of the White House?

Originally published as Donald Trump would face jail time if convicted for racketeering in Georgia