Former President Donald Trump Indicted on Four Criminal Counts in Effort to Overturn 2020 Election
Former President Donald Trump has been indicted on four criminal counts relating to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, which led to the storming of the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. This is the third time this year that Trump has faced criminal charges.
The key question arising from these charges is whether Trump can still run for the White House in 2024, given that he is seeking the nomination of the Republican Party. While the courts have not fully resolved this issue, it is generally believed that neither an indictment nor a conviction would legally prevent Trump from being elected.
Historical precedents suggest that convicted felons have previously run for federal charges and achieved some level of success. For example, Eugene Debs, a socialist candidate, polled over 900,000 votes in the 1920 presidential campaign while serving time for an espionage conviction.
The consensus among legal experts is that only the Constitution sets the standards that candidates must meet to be president. According to constitutional lawyer Rafael Penalver, the Constitution establishes three conditions for a person to be president: being born in the United States, residing in the country for at least 14 years, and being 35 years or older.
UCLA law professor Richard L. Hasen, an expert in election law, explains: “The Constitution has very few requirements to serve as president, such as being at least 35 years old. It doesn’t stop anyone accused, convicted, or even jailed from running for president and winning the presidency.”
However, the question of whether a president can serve from prison remains less clear. Hasen comments, “How someone would serve as president from prison is a happily unproven question.”
Derek Muller, a professor of Election Law at the University of Iowa School of Law, emphasizes that the Constitution does not mention having been convicted of a crime as a disqualification to run for president. He states that “these are political issues, not legal” and suggests that practical and fundraising barriers could hinder a convicted candidate.
Regarding Trump’s intentions, he announced in November his intention to seek the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, aiming to become the second president elected to two non-consecutive terms in the country. He has previously stated that he would not drop out of the race even if indicted.
If Trump were convicted before the 2024 election and secured a win, he could potentially grant himself a pardon. Hasen believes it would be untested and that the Supreme Court may have to weigh in. Trump’s defense attorney, John Lauro, stated that a possible trial could last “nine months or a year,” emphasizing that his client deserves due process.
In the event of a felony conviction, Trump would be barred from voting in his adopted state of Florida, at least until any potential sentence has been served.
It is important to note that this article was originally published on March 20 and updated on August 2. Reporting for this article was done by Fredreka Schouten, Jack Forrest, Ross Levitt, Tierney Sneed, Angela Reyes, Kara Scannell, Devan Cole, and Zachary B. Wolf.