Heres what happens to Trumps court cases now that hes president-elect
Donald Trump’s election victory Tuesday night will likely mean the president-elect is getting off scot-free in the four criminal cases he faces, experts tell The Post, as Justice Department officials reportedly moved Wednesday to shut down two federal cases against the former president.Trump, 78, has been battling two state cases and two federal cases — including one which was tossed out by a South Florida federal judge and one in which he was historically convicted by a Manhattan jury.According to NBC News, Justice Department officials are considering how to wind down the pair of cases brought against Trump while out of office by special counsel Jack Smith.The DOJ has a longstanding policy of not prosecuting a sitting president and officials there reportedly are aware it would be futile to continue pursuing charges during the two-plus months before Trump’s inauguration Jan.
20.“Many legal scholars, including myself, agree it’s almost certain he will never see the inside of a jail cell,” Quinnipiac University Assistant Professor of Law Wayne Unger told The Post.Former prosecutor Neama Rahmani agreed, saying, “Now that Trump has won, his criminal problems go away.”The 45th president was charged by Smith in Washinton, DC with unlawfully attempting to overturn his 2020 election loss, including by stoking the Jan.6, 2021, Capitol riot.Smith also charged Trump with hoarding boxes of national security information at his Mar-a-Lago estate after leaving office and then lying about it when he was caught.The Florida case was tossed out over the summer by federal Judge Aileen Cannon on the grounds that Smith was unlawfully appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Smith — who is also prosecuting the DC case — is appealing Cannon’s ruling.In the two federal cases, Trump could simply pardon himself once he’s in office — or direct the new attorney general fire Smith and tell the Justice Department to drop both matters.With that writing on the wall...