His troubles with the law did not prevent him from being elected president of the United States again. Donald Trump won the American presidential election against Democratic candidate Kamala Harris on Wednesday November 6. The Republican candidate, who was targeted by 88 charges, was not sanctioned at the polls by American voters for the multiple legal cases targeting him since his first term. Quite the contrary. “One might wonder if his multiple trials have not contributed to increasing Donald Trump’s popularityanalysis for franceinfo André Kaspi, historian specializing in the United States. Because he appeared as a sort of victim of the Democrats’ desire to lower the main rival. of their candidate.
According to the specialist, Donald Trump now finds himself sheltered from the legal proceedings to which he is subject because “he can pardon himself [dans les affaires fédérales].All his trials will be erased from the political calendar”. A final obstacle nevertheless awaits him on November 26 in New York before his official return to the White House on January 20: the pronouncement of his sentence in the only one of the four criminal trials that his lawyers have not succeeded in delaying. beyond 2024. Found guilty on May 30 by the courts of the State of New York of “aggravated accounting falsification to conceal a plot to pervert the 2016 election”he theoretically faces up to four years in prison.
This case concerns the payment of $130,000, disguised as legal fees, to ex-pornographic film star Stormy Daniels, to silence a sexual relationship in 2006, which Donald Trump denies. “The judge [Juan Merchan] did well to wait to decide on the sentence. He undoubtedly had better knowledge of the political terrain than the pollsters.jokes to franceinfo Anne Deysine, professor at Paris Nanterre University. It is unlikely, according to this specialist in political and legal issues in the United States, that the magistrate will opt for from prison. Not only because this is a first criminal conviction for Donald Trump, but above all because the incarceration of a sitting president would raise insurmountable practical difficulties. His lawyers should in any case request a postponement of the conviction, specifies CNN.
Concerning the two federal proceedings against him (in connection with illicit attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, which resulted in the assault on the Capitol, and for classified documents taken to his Florida residence after his first mandate), Donald Trump’s legal horizon had already brightened spectacularly this summer, with the Supreme Court’s decision on presidential immunity. He now appears completely clear, at least for the four years of his new mandate. “These two Federal affairs will be buried as soon as he comes to power on January 20. Donald Trump will order his Minister of Justice to fire the special prosecutor responsible for these casest there will be no more funds allocated for these investigations”explains Anne Deysine.
The Republican candidate declared at the end of October that he wanted, if elected, “to turn” Jack Smith, appointed by the Minister of Justice of the current Democratic administration, Merrick Garland. “I’ll fire him in two seconds”he said in an interview in response to the question of whether he would pardon himself or have the special prosecutor fired.
In the case of the results of the 2020 presidential election, the Supreme Court recognized on July 1 that the billionaire had a broad presumption of criminal immunity, forcing Jack Smith to present a revised indictment at the end of August and then to fight over the calendar with the jurists defending the republican. In the end, the judge in the case, Tanya Chutkan, noted the impossibility of setting a new date close to holding a trial.
In the second case, in Florida, Judge Aileen Cannon canceled the proceedings on July 15 on the grounds that the appointment of the special prosecutor was illegal. In this she followed the opinion of Donald Trump’s lawyers, who had highlighted that Jack Smith’s office was partly financed by the Department of Justice and that his appointment contravened the legislation. This decision is currently under appeal.
For Claire Finkelstein, professor of law at the University of Pennsylvania, these federal procedures cannot, however, be canceled since they were initiated before his return to the White House. “As things currently stand, he could only be judged after leaving power”she told AFP. “U“The new Justice Minister appointed by Donald Trump may dismiss these cases, but they could be reopened in four years by a Democratic-appointed successor.” supports for franceinfo Jacques Maillet, doctor in American politics.
What remains are the prosecutions in the key state of Georgia, where Donald Trump is being prosecuted with 14 other people for facts similar to those in his federal case in Washington, namely attempts to reverse the results of the 2020 election. The investigation was triggered by a January 2021 phone call from the outgoing president, asking a senior Georgia official to “find” the approximately 12,000 ballots in his name that he lacked to win this key state.
Indicted, Donald Trump was forced to appear in an Atlanta prison for a forensic photo taken, a humiliating first for a former American president. But the progress of the prosecution suffered a big setback when the press revealed that the local prosecutor, Fani Willis, was maintaining an intimate relationship with an investigator she had hired, Nathan Wade. The consequences of the Supreme Court’s favorable decision on presidential immunity were added to the request for divestment filed by Donald Trump’s lawyers. Result: the opening of the trial, once planned for August 5, was postponed without a new agenda.
Between these deadlines, the possible appeals and the age of Donald Trump (78), it is unlikely that these procedures will succeed, even beyond his second term, underlines Jacques Maillet. The specialist recalls one last unknown in the equation: “Project 2025”, which outlined the Republican’s priorities if he returned to the White House. If applied, it could “further change the rules of the game with the use of the Department of Justice to further strengthen the powers of the president”.
