“To what is Trump looking forward after his four years are up? He will be in his 80s then.”
— Stephen Metelits, Chapel Hill, N.C.
Hi Stephen,
Litigation could still be a significant feature of Trump’s life after the presidency.
In terms of criminal exposure, his 2024 election win halved his caseload because of Justice Department policy against prosecuting sitting presidents. His two state cases, however, are still around in different ways that could further develop in the coming months and years. As I’ll explain, Trump could have at least one criminal trial waiting for him when he leaves the White House.
In New York, the president hired new lawyers to appeal his hush money conviction. That could take a while to move through the state courts and potentially the U.S. Supreme Court. But let’s assume, for purposes of this discussion, that he gets his conviction overturned. That wouldn’t make the case disappear. It would just get him a new trial.
If he’s convicted again, he won’t have that protection from normal sentencing options.
Suppose he wins relief while he’s in office. In that case, a trial would have to wait until he leaves office (and even his supporters have conceded that an unlikely constitutional amendment is needed to run for a third term). But if New York prosecutors want to retry him in that hypothetical scenario, then that’s a reality he could face post-presidency. And remember that Judge Juan Merchan sentenced him to the penalty-free unconditional discharge because of his then-impending White House return. If he’s convicted again in a post-presidency trial, he won’t have that protection from normal sentencing options such as incarceration or probation.
And while Trump’s New York case could end in several ways, his other state case — in Georgia — is even more complicated. Not only did that one not go to trial before the election, it didn’t even come close. It was derailed by a pretrial defense appeal that sought to kick Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis off the case. That effort succeeded last year at the intermediate state appellate level, and Willis is pressing Georgia’s top court to intervene.
If she fails and her office remains disqualified from prosecuting the state election interference case, then there’s a big question of when or even whether another prosecutor would take on the complex matter featuring high-profile political figures. If she’s reinstated, the case can move forward against the remaining co-defendants on the indictment, with Trump being just one of 19 people charged (several have pleaded guilty, but many remain). Like in the New York case, criminal proceedings wouldn’t move forward against Trump himself while he’s in office. But as in New York, the case could be waiting for him when he leaves.
So, while the president’s criminal exposure is not as severe as before he won the 2024 election, fighting to stay out of prison could also become a top priority after he leaves the White House.
Have any questions or comments for me? I’d love to hear from you! Please email [email protected] for a chance to be featured in a future newsletter.
Jordan Rubin is the Deadline: Legal Blog writer. He was a prosecutor for the New York County District Attorney’s Office in Manhattan and is the author of “Bizarro,” a book about the secret war on synthetic drugs. Before he joined MSNBC, he was a legal reporter for Bloomberg Law.
