Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election on Wednesday will effectively halt the criminal proceedings against him during his four-year tenure as president.
Trump, who became the first former US president to face criminal charges, encountered four concurrent prosecutions this year. The allegations ranged from concealing a payment to Stormy Daniels during his 2016 campaign to his efforts to challenge his 2020 electoral defeat.
US justice department officials began evaluating how to conclude special counsel Jack Smith’s two criminal cases against the Republican president-elect on Wednesday, in accordance with their established policy prohibiting prosecution of a sitting president, according to a source who spoke to Reuters.
A jury in New York delivered a guilty verdict in May regarding his falsification of business records related to the Daniels payment, establishing him as the first former US president convicted of a felony.
In an October 24 interview, Trump stated he would dismiss Smith, who supervised the federal prosecutions regarding his election challenge and classified documents retention, immediately upon taking office.
Trump maintained his innocence against all charges, describing the prosecutions as politically driven.
“The American people have heard these Democrat prosecutors’ cases against President Trump and they’re still going to elect him anyway,” said Mike Davis, the founder of the Article III Project, a conservative legal advocacy group.
Whilst Trump cannot control the New York hush money case or Georgia’s prosecution regarding his 2020 election challenge, his presidential position makes legal consequences unlikely during his term.
“He was properly charged with crimes within the system we have,” said Kristy Parker, a special counsel at Protect Democracy, an advocacy organisation dedicated to countering what it calls authoritarian threats to the US Parker said if Trump does shut down the cases, “that won’t mean it was the right thing.”
