The End Of Donald Trump’s Criminal Cases Post-Election

Source: JUSTIN LANE / Getty

Donald Trump’s reelection to the White House means that he will likely avoid any serious prosecution for his ongoing criminal and civil cases.

On Wednesday morning (Nov. 6), Donald Trump won reelection to the White House, defeating Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris. With that victory, he became the first twice-impeached, convicted felon to be commander in chief. It also ensures that Trump “is now his own judge and jury, insulated from the criminal consequences he might have faced without the legal force field of the Oval Office.”

Trump’s first act once he gets into office in January will undoubtedly be to fire Jack Smith, the special counsel appointed by United States Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate allegations of Trump committing four counts of election interference connected to the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is presiding over the case, set filing deadlines for later this month and December.

Trump’s legal team is expected to ask for a dismissal, having lost the appeal to throw the case out based on the narrow immunity granted in a decision by the conservative-leaning Supreme Court earlier this year. As for Smith’s other case against Trump in Florida on 40 felony counts of hoarding classified documents, that was dismissed by U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon who ruled that Garland had no authority to appoint Smith. Smith filed an appeal, but it’s likely it would be denied.

As for the Fulton County, Georgia, election interference trial against Trump by prosecutor Fani Willis, the case is on hold after Judge Scott McAfee denied a bid by Trump’s legal team to disqualify her after it was discovered that she was romantically involved with another lawyer on the case. If Willis were to win the appeal to resume the trial, Trump could again claim that the powers of the presidency grant him broad immunity from such a prosecution. 

The lone case where Trump was convicted of 34 counts of falsifying business records to hide his affair with adult film star Stormy Daniels in New York is also in doubt. Judge Juan Merchan was set to sentence Trump on Nov. 26. Even if sentenced, Trump’s ascent to the White House means he wouldn’t be able to serve that time until the end of his term in 2029. Even civil court judgments won against him by New York Attorney General Letitia James are at risk, with Trump again being able to cite through appeal that paying those judgments would interfere with his duties as president.