Prosecuted – and sometimes convicted in several criminal or civil cases, Donald Trump constitutes, for American justice, both a textbook case and a real headache. All in a complex judicial system, mixing federal justice and state justice. A system headed by a Supreme Court whose judges, who serve for life, are all appointed by the President of the United States himself. In short, enough to make your head spin.
For federal crimes, Trump could 'self-pardon'
On the criminal level, Donald Trump must answer for four cases. Two of them are federal and have been entrusted to a special prosecutor, Jack Smith, whom the billionaire plans to “fire” upon his installation at the White House. The first concerns the hundreds of classified documents that Donald Trump, upon leaving the White House, took to his Mar-a-Lago home and whose existence he concealed from the National Archives.
The second encompasses the assault on the Capitol, as well as the gigantic fraud attempts that preceded it. The federal dimension of these two cases gives the future president of the United States a very real capacity for pressure. To escape prosecution, Donald Trump can thus dismiss special prosecutor Jack Smith, to whom they were entrusted – “I’ll fire him in two seconds,” Donald Trump announced. If he were to be convicted, he could also take self-amnesty, some commentators believe. “Self-pardon is possible, but only for federal crimes,” specifies Margaux Bouaziz, specialist in American constitutional law1.
This will therefore not be possible in the two other cases for which Donald Trump is indicted. That of electoral fraud in Georgia in 2020, which focuses on the pressure exerted by Trump on the Georgia secretary of state responsible for the proper conduct of the election – “I just want to find 11,780 votes,” he ordered him on January 2, 2021.
And that of the so-called “Stormy Daniels” affair, which falls under the State of New York, in which candidate Donald Trump was convicted of having purchased -130,000 dollars- the silence of a porn actress without declaring the sum in his 2016 campaign expenses. Donald Trump having no direct power over the prosecutors of these states, his margin of influence is reduced. But it is far from zero, specifies Margaux Bouaziz. “The victory of the Republicans in Georgia may thus have an influence on the composition of the commission responsible for the right of pardon, explains the lawyer. If so, it is possible that Donald Trump would benefit from such a measure. »
His sentence in the Stormy Daniels case expected on November 26
There remains, on the criminal level, only one real black spot for the future president of the United States: his conviction in the Stormy Daniels affair. The latter is acquired, but the sentence must be pronounced on November 26. In theory, Donald Trump faces four years in prison.
“It is very unlikely that the judge will send him behind bars,” However, believes Margaux Bouaziz, who is instead considering the option of a financial conviction. To reduce the sentence, Judge Juan Merchan could notably take into account the criteria for presidential immunity set on July 1 by the Supreme Court of the United States.
In its decision, intended to criminally protect the President of the United States, the court establishes a distinction between the acts of the latter. He is “absolutely immune” for those relevant “from the heart” of its constitutional powers, considers the Court. He is not for his private actions. One left « zone grise » in which the responsibility of the president depends on the characterization of his actions. Enough to give prosecutors, for each fact of Donald Trump studied, a very wide margin of appreciation.
Several cases – financial embezzlement surrounding the Trump Organization, defamation based on sexual assault – have already earned the billionaire civil penalties of impressive amounts. By the grace of his election, a powerful breath has just cleared the judicial sky of Donald Trump.
For the first time in their history, the Americans have just elected a president convicted of criminal charges as their leader. “It is not excluded that he will have an amnesty law adopted, believes Margaux Bouaziz. But that will only cover it on the federal level. And the prosecutions could resume at the end of his mandate. »
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