What happens to Donald Trump’s criminal cases now?

Donald Trump has won himself a get-of-jail free card, with the Department of Justice looking to “wind down” his criminal cases and a judge consider tossing the Stormy Daniels conviction.

The Manhattan judge who oversaw Donald Trump’s hush-money criminal trial is expected to announce next week if the now-president-elect’s historic felony conviction will still stand.

Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan had already delayed sentencing by more than four months to come after the election — and gave himself until next Tuesday to decide if the conviction should be thrown out.

Mr Trump’s overwhelming election win will now further embolden his legal team “to make sure that sentencing never happens,” CNN chief legal affairs correspondent Paula Reid noted.

“Here, they’re going to argue to the judge that the sentencing should never happen because now that Trump is president-elect,” Ms Reid noted.

“They will say that he is entitled to the same constitutional protections as a sitting president and should be protected from state actors, and in this case, state prosecutors.”

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump dances after speaking at an election night watch party, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. Picture: AP Photo/Alex Brandon

Mr Trump, 78, faces up to four years in prison after being convicted of 34 counts of felony falsifying business records to cover up payments to porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election.

But legal experts predict Mr Trump won’t face hard time.

“Merchan doesn’t have the stomach to imprison a former president or president-elect,” former prosecutor Neama Rahmani said.

“Now that Trump has won, his criminal problems go away.”

It comes as NBC reported that Department of Justice Officials see no possibility in pursuing either the classified documents case or the January 6 case before or during Mr Trump’s return to the White House.

After Mr Trump’s stunning election victory, his campaign spokesman Steven Cheung called for the cases to be immediately dropped.

“It is now abundantly clear that Americans want an immediate end to the weaponisation of our justice system,” he said.

Legal experts believe a more pressing legal matter - Mr Trump’s sentencing on November 26 over false records in relation to the payment of hush money top the porn star Stormy Daniels - could also soon disappear.

Stanford law Professor Robert Weisberg told USA Today that the most likely outcome would be a delay in sentencing “until after he has finished his presidency”.

Other legal experts believe the judge in that case, Juan Merchan, could find Mr Trump immune from prosecution, or opt for a fine.

People hold anti Trump signs in front of the US Supreme Court on July 1, 2024, in Washington, DC. Picture: Drew Angerer/AFP

What happens to Donald Trump’s criminal cases now?

When Donald Trump won the election he earned himself a get-out-of jail free card.

The 47th United States president was the first convicted felon to win office after he was found guilty on 34 charges in a hush money trial relating to porn star Stormy Daniels in May.

But that was just one of a string of serious cases against Mr Trump, including allegations he tried to overturn the result of the 2020 election and mishandled classified documents.

Now he has won the White House, Mr Trump has the chance to influence the outcome of the criminal cases against him.

He could ask the Department of Justice to drop the cases, appoint a sympathetic Attorney-General who would throw out the charges, or, if he had to, simply intervene directly.

Donald Trump raised a fist as he arrived back at Trump Tower after being convicted in his criminal trial in New York City, in May. Picture: AFP

Will Mr Trump hit back at the lawyers and officials who launched cases against him?

Mr Trump has already threatened to fire special counsel Jack Smith in “two seconds” if he won the election.

He didn’t mention it during his election acceptance speech - it was about 3am in Florida, when he took the stage.

But it may be near the top of his agenda when he gets his feet back under the desk in the Oval Office in January.

Mr Smith brought charges against Mr Trump over allegations he mishandled classified documents.

That related to claims he left secret material lying around at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

The case had been thrown out but Mr Smith had been appealing, which now has almost zero chance of going ahead.

Supporters and opponents of Mr Trump outside the Manhattan Criminal Court. Picture: AFP

What about the cases accusing Mr Trump of being responsible for the January 6 riots in 2020?

There have been two cases against Mr Trump over the attack on the Capitol building in Washington where six people were killed.

The Federal case was already shaky and a case filed in Georgia has been tied in legal knots.

A new District Attorney could be assigned to that case, which would likely mean it never proceeds.

Mr Trump may also get off on the hush money case, with a judge to rule next week on whether a July Supreme Court ruling providing him immunity from all acts carried out in his official capacity applied.

Donald Trump’s mugshot.

Did the court cases actually help Mr Trump win the White House in the “greatest political comeback in American history”?

Mr Trump had labelled criminal charges against him as a “political witch hunt”.

If they were, they were been a massive own goal for those aligned with the Democrat party.

Instead of Mr Trump being damaged by the cases, he turned them into a positive by making himself a martyr.

Mr Trump even claimed that he knew how Black men felt after a mug shot of him taken while he was arrested was released.

“A lot of people said that that’s why the Black people like me because they have been hurt so badly and discriminated against, and they actually viewed me as I’m being discriminated against,” he said in February.

Based on poll results coming in on Wednesday night our time, it appears Mr Trump was right as he polled considerably higher among Black men across the US.

Originally published as What happens to Donald Trump’s criminal cases now?