Donald Trump will be the 1st convicted felon president. Here's what that means
Trump faces a sentencing and 3 other indictments, but winning the presidency should get him off the hook
President-elect Donald Trump will be the first convicted felon to hold the White House, after beating Democratic candidate Kamala Harris to return to office after leaving in explosive fashion four years ago.
Trump's U.S. presidential election victory could very well end the four criminal cases brought against him, at least for the four years he occupies the White House. Here's a look at the questions his unprecedented status as a felon raises.
So you can be president after being convicted of a crime?
There is nothing under federal law or in the U.S. Constitution that prevents a felon from leading the nation. To become president, candidates need only be at least 35 years old, a natural-born citizen and a resident of the United States for at least 14 years.
The law is harder on voters than presidential candidates: in some states, felons cannot vote for the leader of their country.
What crime did Trump commit?
Trump was convicted in New York this spring on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in connection with a hush-money payment made to a porn star before the 2016 presidential election.
Could Trump pardon himself in that case?
No.
Presidential pardoning power only applies to federal offences, not to crimes violating state law.
So he's still going to be sentenced?
Probably not anytime soon. Trump's lawyers are expected to ask Justice Juan Merchan to delay his sentencing currently scheduled for Nov. 26 — in which he could face up to four years in prison. Sentencing a president-elect ahead of Inauguration Day would be unprecedented in U.S. history, and legal experts expect the hearing to be delayed.
Merchan has already twice postponed Trump's sentencing, which was initially scheduled for July 11, in part due to a July U.S. Supreme Court ruling finding that presidents have broad immunity from prosecution over their official acts. Trump argues the case should be dismissed based on the ruling, which prosecutors dispute.
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Lawrence Douglas, professor of law at Amherst College in Massachusetts, told CBC News Network that even before Trump's election victory, jail time for a first-time felon was probably not in the cards.
"But assuming that he did receive a prison sentence, certainly the court would suspend the sentence while he is in serving as president," he said. "So I don't think we would imagine having to move the desk from the Oval Office into a prison cell."
As a felon, can Trump come to Canada?
Canada is among dozens of countries in the world to refuse entry to felons.
After Trump was convicted in May, a federal official laid out to CBC News the Canadian government's understanding of how the rules would apply in the event Trump was elected.
The bottom line: It will likely fall upon Canada's immigration minister to grant Trump special status to make him legally admissible for entry into the country.
What are Trump's other indictments?
Trump faces charges in federal court in Washington accusing him of spreading false claims of election fraud to try to block the collection and certification of votes following the 2020 election, which Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden.
Another case involved his refusal to return classified documents to the federal government after leaving office.
Finally, prosecutors in Fulton County, Ga., last year used state racketeering laws — developed to fight organized crime — to charge Trump in an alleged conspiracy to reverse his defeat in the battleground state in the 2020 election.
Trump has denied any wrongdoing, and none of those cases have been resolved.
What will happen to those cases?
"Almost certainly he will fire Jack Smith," Douglas said. "He's the prosecutor in the Department of Justice who's brought these charges against them, and as a result we won't see any kind of legal reckoning with [Trump's] alleged interference with the 2020 election."
Smith is also prosecutor of the classified documents cases, which would similarly be stopped.
Trump does not have the same control over Georgia's prosecution. But his unique role as president makes it unlikely he will face legal consequences during his term in office. His lawyer has already said in court he will seek to pause any activity related to Trump based on an argument that a president should not face the burden of a criminal prosecution while in office.
If he was charged in an alleged conspiracy, aren't there other defendants?
Yes. Trump and eight of his 14 co-defendants in the case are asking a Georgia appeals court to disqualify the lead prosecutor, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, over alleged misconduct stemming from a romantic relationship she had with a former deputy. Oral arguments are scheduled for Dec. 5.
If that effort fails, the case will be able to proceed against the other co-defendants, who include Trump's former personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows. But legal experts expect that the case against Trump will not progress while he remains in the White House.
What about the 14th Amendment disqualifying candidates who are involved in insurrection?
The amendment does take those candidates out of contention, but Trump was not charged with insurrection after the attack at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
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With files from Reuters, John Mazerolle and CBC News Network