Republican presumptive nominee Donald Trump has become the first-ever former president of the US to undergo criminal trial, reinvigorating questions about what happens if the 77-year-old is convicted.
Donald Trump was indicted for the first time last year in March accusing him of falsifying business records to pay hush money to an adult film star Stormy Daniels in 2016 for his sexual encounter that occurred in 2006.
The business mogul can still run for president and still be elected to the Oval Office even if he is convicted.
“It is certainly true that being convicted or even being in prison doesn’t prevent you from running for president or even from being elected,” Ilya Somin, professor of law at George Mason University and an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute, quoted by The Hill.
“Assuming the office, though, would be a difficult situation if the president were in prison.”
Law professor Richard L Hasen from the University of California Los Angeles has told CNN that the Republican still has a path to serving as president should he win reelection 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,” Hansen said who is an expert on election law.
However, there is an ambiguity about a president serving from the jail.
“How someone would serve as president from prison is a happily untested question,” Hasen said.
Hansen also stated that if the four-time indicted 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.”
A lawyer Robert Ray who was Trump’s attorney during his first impeachment told CNN that after the indictment in the secret documents case, the former president would control the Justice Department if reelected.
“If the documents case was pending at that time, he just dismisses the case.”
