“The Office of Legal Counsel has said you can’t indict or prosecute or punish a sitting president,” Prakash says. The legalities become more murky if Trump were to win the presidency while facing impending charges or a conviction. “I cannot imagine that Trump would be convicted, and sent to jail, before the 2024 election season is over,” Hasen says. Read More: What to Know About the Key Figures Surrounding Donald Trump’s Indictment In most white-collar crime cases like the one Trump faces, the defendant is immediately released following charges. The New York judge assigned to Trump’s case could have the ultimate decision on whether the former president can campaign while under indictment, though it seems unlikely that prosecutors would seek to detain the former president or restrict his campaign travel while the case is pending. For example, if he were to be sentenced to jail, Prakash says, that would inhibit his ability to conduct a campaign-but it wouldn’t necessarily inhibit his ability to win. LaRouche, a fringe candidate who embraced conspiracy theories, was convicted of tax and mail fraud in 1988 and ran his 1992 campaign from prison.īut while it might be legally possible for Trump to run for president even if he is convicted, a number of practical hurdles could make campaigning more difficult. Another convicted presidential candidate, Lyndon LaRouche, ran for president in every election between 19. Debs was convicted of violating the Espionage Act over an anti-war speech, and won more than 3% of the vote nationally. Hasen, of UCLA Law, noted that in 1920 a candidate named Eugene Debs ran for president while in a federal prison in Atlanta as the nominee of the Socialist Party. At least two candidates with criminal convictions have even run for president in the past, albeit unsuccessfully. There’s really no way around that,” he said.Īnd while Trump is the first former president to be charged with a crime, he’s far from the first presidential candidate to run despite criminal charges. Alan Dershowitz, a Harvard law professor, said on Newsmax that a mugshot of Trump could serve as a campaign poster for his campaign. Some said it could help Trump, thrusting him into the national spotlight as he aims to be the dominant figure of his party. Legal experts and political pundits on Thursday evening were rushing to join the conversation about how the indictment might impact Trump’s presidential chances. “It’s simultaneously embarrassing, but also makes him something of a martyr,” says Saikrishna Prakash, a distinguished constitutional law professor at the University of Virginia Law School. ![]() Read More: Your Questions About Trump’s Indictment, Answered
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