Can Donald Trump be reelected despite being convicted? Prosecutors indicted former US President Donald Trump for the third time Tuesday in an inquiry into the overturning of the 2020 election and inciting his followers to assault Capitol Hill as he was losing the office to incumbent President Joe Biden.
Special Counsel Jack Smith is overseeing the investigations into Trump, who called the January 6 incident “an unprecedented assault on American democracy.”
Can Donald Trump be reelected despite being convicted?
But what if Donald Trump wins the presidential election? Can he keep the presidency of the United States despite being convicted of the charges against him?
Experts believe he can take the oath of office while being indicted.
According to law professor Richard L Hasen of the University of California, Los Angeles, the 77-year-old Republican nominee still has a chance to become president if re-elected in 2024.
“The Constitution has very few requirements to serve as President, such as being at least 35 years of age. It does not bar anyone indicted, or convicted, or even serving jail time, from running as president and winning the presidency,” Hasen said who is an expert on election law.
It remains unclear if a president could serve from prison.
“How someone would serve as president from prison is a happily untested question,” Hasen said.
Can Donald Trump pardon himself if reelected?
Donald Trump was charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of an attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights, according to the indictment.
The new criminal accusations are distinct from the 40 counts being investigated by special counsel Smith for alleged mishandling of confidential documents, as well as the 34 counts of falsifying business records linked to an alleged hush money payment made to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
Hansen maintained that if Donald Trump wins the election and is convicted before winning, he can pardon himself. “Whether he can do so is untested. The Supreme Court may have to weigh in,” Hasen said, adding that Trump could “potentially appeal a conviction to the conservative Supreme Court.”
Can Trump dismiss the Justice Department case?
During a news conference following the indictment, Special Counsel Smith stated that he will pursue a “speedy trial,” but if Trump becomes president before the trial, “he may be able to dismiss it entirely.”
After Trump’s indictment in the secret documents case, Robert Ray, a lawyer who represented Trump during his first impeachment, told CNN that if reelected, the former president would control the Justice Department, adding that if “the documents case was pending at the time, he just dismisses the case.”
Trump’s defence attorney John Lauro while talking about the latest indictment told CNN that he thinks a potential trial could last “nine months or a year.”
Lauro said he will need to see the evidence but that his client deserves as much time as any other citizen. “Every single person in the US is entitled to due process, including the former president,” he said.
