Donald Trump is likely to score more victories in the courts with his projected victory on election night, NBC News reports.
If elected president, federal criminal cases against him would likely be dismissed, but state criminal cases could be frozen at least until he leaves office.
NBC News reported on Wednesday, citing two people familiar with the matter, that Justice Department officials decided to file a lawsuit against Trump before he was inaugurated to comply with the department’s policy that sitting presidents cannot be prosecuted. The company has already begun considering how to scale back two federal lawsuits against the company. .
Meanwhile, President Trump’s legal team is evaluating next steps on how to resolve all four criminal cases and will soon argue that all cases should be “immediately discontinued,” they said in talks. This was revealed by a person directly involved.
The presidency will not protect Trump from the hundreds of millions of dollars in fines he already faces in various civil lawsuits against him, but it will give him an advantage in protecting him from other pending lawsuits. There is a possibility that it will happen.
President Trump has denied any wrongdoing in all cases, calling them a “witch hunt” that should be dismissed.
Trump campaign spokesman Stephen Chan said Trump’s election victory “makes it very clear that the American people want an immediate end to the weaponization of our justice system.”
Here’s a look at where the various lawsuits against Trump stand and how they could be affected by a Trump victory.
national criminal case
President Trump was found guilty earlier this year on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to a 2016 hush-money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels, and was tentatively sentenced in New York on November 26. is scheduled to receive.
If sentencing proceeds, Judge Juan Melchan could hand down a prison sentence for President Trump. The decision could be immediately appealed, with Trump’s lawyers successfully arguing that because the Constitution prohibits restrictions on a president’s ability to carry out his official duties, he cannot serve as president until the end of his term. There is.
It is also unclear at this point whether sentencing will proceed.
Trump’s lawyers are pursuing a motion arguing that his conviction should be thrown out because of the Supreme Court’s July ruling expanding presidential immunity.
They argue that some of the evidence presented to the grand jury and criminal trial should not have been allowed following the high court’s ruling.
Machan is due to decide on the request by Nov. 12 and could decide whether to proceed with sentencing, dismiss the charges or order a new trial. A new trial will be held after President Trump ends his term in 2029.
Trump is also awaiting criminal trial in Georgia, where he faces state charges of conspiracy to illegally overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
The vast case is on hold until at least December, when an appeals court will consider whether Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and her office should be allowed to prosecute.
If she is fired, authorities would have to find another prosecutor to take over the case, a process that could take a long time and potentially result in the new prosecutor deciding to reduce or drop the charges.
Even if Willis were to move forward, legal experts told NBC News he would face the same hurdles as New York prosecutors. Trump cannot stand trial until the end of his term. Meanwhile, Willis will also have to clear new legal hurdles created by the immunity judgment.
Donald Trump and his attorney Susan Necheres appear in Manhattan criminal court on May 7th. (Win McNamee / Pool via Getty Images)
federal criminal case
Mr. Trump is the subject of two criminal cases brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith. One federal charge alleges he tried to illegally overturn the 2020 election, and the other alleges he retained classified documents and lied to investigators after leaving office.
U.S. District Judge Eileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, ruled that Smith’s appointment as special counsel was illegal and dismissed the filing suit earlier this year.
The Justice Department has appealed the ruling, but the agency is part of the executive branch, and President Trump plans to resume control of it in January. “He could tell the Justice Department not to even bother with an appeal,” said NBC News legal analyst Danny Ceballos.
The election interference case is still ongoing, but U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan had not yet set a trial date because the case is mired in arguments stemming from the Supreme Court’s immunity decision.
Smith had been pursuing charges in both cases during the campaign as if it were business as usual, but sources close to the two men told NBC on Wednesday that that is no longer the case, and Justice Department officials say He said he believes there is no room to pursue the criminal case, and there is no point in prosecuting him. The lawsuit will continue in the remaining weeks before he takes office.
The department’s position stems from a 2000 memo by the department’s Office of General Counsel, which said that prosecuting a sitting president would “unreasonably interfere, directly or formally, with the performance of the president’s duties.” It affirms the conclusions of the gate era.
Officials said it was up to Smith to decide exactly how to resolve the charges.
“By all accounts, these cases are gone,” Ceballos said, even before reporting on the Justice Department’s new position. “There will be no more federal lawsuits.”
Civil lawsuits and judgments
This presidency could give Trump an advantage in defending him in a number of pending civil cases related to his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Trump has argued that his actions are protected by executive privilege and that he could use his new status to involve the Justice Department in his defense.
He now argues that these cases should not be heard until after his criminal trial in Georgia because they deal with similar subject matter and could affect his right against self-incrimination. There is a possibility that it will.
Trump’s victory would not affect his pending appeal of civil judgments against him totaling more than $550 million.
The president-elect is appealing the largest judgment ever, a $478 million verdict in a civil fraud case brought by New York State Attorney General Letitia James. During arguments before the state Appellate Division in September, three members of the five-judge panel said they believed the award was too large. It is unclear when the panel will rule.
James said at a press conference Wednesday that his office has been “preparing for months” for Trump’s possible re-election.
“We’ve been here before, we’ve faced this challenge before,” she said. “And we have used the rule of law to fight back. And we are ready to fight back again.”
Mr. Trump is also appealing two jury awards totaling about $88 million owed to author E. Jean Carroll. She has filed two lawsuits against Trump, one for alleged sexual assault and defamation in the 1990s, and one for defamation during Trump’s presidency.
The appeals court is expected to rule on the sexual assault case first, but it is unclear when that will happen.
One case his new office is unlikely to be able to protect him from is a defamation suit filed against him last month by five members of the so-called Central Park Five, who are currently innocent. be.
The five men are suing Trump, accusing him of making false claims about them during a presidential debate in September.
A 1997 Supreme Court decision ruled that presidents are not immune from civil lawsuits unrelated to their time in office.
Laura Jarrett and Ken Dilanian contributed.
This article first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:
