Here’s what happens now that Trump has been convicted in the New York case.
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00:00 Former President Donald Trump has been convicted by a Manhattan jury on all 34 counts of falsifying business records
00:06 to cover up a sex scandal ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
00:09 The guilty verdict makes him the first former president ever convicted of a crime.
00:14 The presiding judge, Juan Marchand, now faces the unprecedented task of sentencing Trump on July 11,
00:20 just days before Republicans are set to select Trump as their 2024 presidential nominee.
00:26 The historic verdict is expected to raise a series of legal and political questions in the coming months,
00:31 and the process could be further complicated if he wins a second presidential term.
00:35 Trump has already laid the groundwork for his appeal, and is poised to leverage the outcome to advance his narrative of victimhood and political persecution.
00:44 But campaigning under the shadow of a criminal conviction is uncharted territory for presidential politics.
00:49 So what happens now that Trump has been convicted? Will he be sent to prison? Can he appeal?
00:55 Can he even vote for himself in the November election? We're going to answer your questions.
00:59 Can Trump still run for president?
01:02 Yes, even with a conviction, Donald Trump can still run for president.
01:07 A felony conviction does not legally prevent someone from running for president, even if they were imprisoned.
01:12 The Constitution says that all natural-born citizens who are at least 35 years old and have been a resident of the U.S. for 14 years
01:18 can run for president. Being a felon isn't a disqualifier.
01:23 History also tells us that candidates with criminal convictions have run for president in the past, albeit unsuccessfully.
01:29 About 100 years ago, Eugene Debs ran for president while in federal prison as the nominee of the Socialist Party,
01:35 and he got close to a million votes without ever hitting the campaign trail.
01:38 Another convicted presidential candidate, Lyndon LaRouche, ran for president in every election between 1976 and 2004,
01:45 including one campaign from prison, but he only got over 26,000 votes.
01:50 So for Trump, he can continue his campaign even with a conviction.
01:53 Will Donald Trump go to prison? This is the main question on everyone's mind now that he's been convicted.
02:00 It's possible, but it's not a certainty. The judge in this case, Juan Rishon, has final discretion in sentencing,
02:07 and given factors like Trump's age, he's about to turn 78, and his lack of prior convictions,
02:12 he might avoid prison time. In fact, most first-time offenders in non-violent cases are often sentenced
02:18 to probation and fines instead. That being said, it is possible the judge decides to incarcerate Trump,
02:25 and if he does, it's expected the sentence would be anywhere from one to four years,
02:29 either at New York City's Rikers Island or in one of New York's 44 state prisons.
02:34 But Trump would be no ordinary prisoner. The U.S. Secret Service is required by law to protect former
02:41 presidents at all times, so the prison would also need to accommodate his Secret Service protective detail.
02:46 And unlike his other pending criminal cases, Trump would not be able to try to pardon himself of his
02:52 felony conviction if he's elected president again. And that's because falsifying business records is
02:57 a state crime, and only the New York governor could pardon him. Ahead of sentencing on July 11,
03:03 both parties are expected to submit a memo to the judge with sentencing recommendations.
03:07 Trump will be able to gather character letters from friends, family members, and colleagues,
03:11 and he'll also likely do a pre-sentence interview with a psychologist or a social worker in which
03:16 he can try to make a good impression and explain why he deserves a lighter punishment.
03:20 But until sentencing on July 11, Trump remains free.
03:24 Can Trump appeal the guilty verdict, and how long will an appeal take?
03:28 Donald Trump almost immediately vowed to appeal the guilty verdict, and that process could take
03:35 months to play out. It would likely begin at the appellate division in Manhattan and could
03:39 eventually reach the Court of Appeals in Albany. It's hard to say how long that would take, but
03:44 given the significance of the case, it's possible that the appeals process wraps up after election
03:48 day. Can Trump still vote?
03:51 So we know that Trump can still run for president with a felony conviction,
03:55 but can he vote for himself as a convicted felon? Well, it depends. For Trump to lose his voting
04:00 rights, he would need to actually be in prison at the time of the November election. And like I said
04:06 earlier, it is possible that the judge hands him a prison sentence, but if his appeal takes longer
04:10 than six months, then he'll be able to vote. Now, the Constitution does not address whether convicted
04:16 felons have the right to vote, but several states impose limitations on their voting privileges.
04:21 In Florida, where Trump lives and has voted since 2020, a felon's eligibility to vote depends on
04:27 the laws of the state where the conviction occurred, which in this instance is New York,
04:32 which only revokes a felon's voting rights while they are incarcerated. So if Trump receives a
04:37 probationary sentence, he would maintain his eligibility to vote. The only way he wouldn't
04:42 is if he were in prison at the time of the election.
04:44 So what would a conviction in the Hush Money case mean for Trump's three federal cases? Well,
04:51 first, let me give some background. Trump is facing 40 felony counts in Florida for allegedly
04:56 hoarding classified documents and obstructing the government's efforts to retrieve them,
05:00 as well as four counts in Washington related to his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election
05:05 and 13 counts in Georgia in connection to his alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election
05:10 result in that state. While the conviction in the Hush Money trial does not directly impact
05:15 Trump's other cases, it could significantly influence his legal strategy and public perception.
05:20 The guilty verdict could embolden prosecutors, it could affect jury perceptions, and
05:25 potentially impact whether he's willing to negotiate a plea deal or settlement agreement
05:29 in those cases, or if he's willing to take the stand in those trials. It might also undermine
05:34 Trump's credibility in future trials, and it's possible judges may take the conviction into
05:39 consideration when determining sentencing. Ultimately, we don't know what impact a
05:43 conviction will have, but it is possible that it influences his legal defense in his other cases
05:48 and shapes the public's perception of his legal troubles.
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