Donald Trump is heading for a second term in the Oval Office, but what does that mean for the legal challenges against him? According to former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani, you probably shouldn't expect much.
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00:00Donald Trump is heading for a second term in the Oval Office, but what does that mean
00:04for the legal challenges against him?
00:06According to former federal prosecutor Nima Romani, you probably shouldn't expect much.
00:12Despite going through six bankruptcies and two impeachments, being found liable for sexual
00:16assault and getting convicted of all 34 charges in a criminal felony case, former President
00:21Donald Trump is now President-elect Trump once again.
00:25He's poised to reenter the White House on January 20, 2025.
00:29It isn't as if scandal has lost its ability to derail a campaign, as other Republicans
00:33and major races were brought low in part by misbehavior and chicanery.
00:37What's striking about Trump is not just how his scandals and legal woes have done nothing
00:41to prevent his political comeback, but that he managed to do so while sentencing and investigations
00:46are still ongoing.
00:48That includes probes into his efforts to subvert the 2020 election.
00:51Trump's re-election will undoubtedly impact those efforts by special counsel Jack Smith
00:56and the state of Georgia.
00:57Nima Romani, president of West Coast Trial Lawyers, told Grunge that Trump's legal woes
01:02are likely to vanish altogether.
01:04He said simply,
01:05"...it's well established that a sitting president can't be prosecuted."
01:08As of November 2024, Smith is appealing his case to the 11th Circuit, but a Trump Department
01:14of Justice can simply abandon the appeal.
01:16Romani elaborated,
01:17"...if for some reason Jack Smith refuses to dismiss the cases, Trump can direct his
01:21attorney general to fire Smith."
01:23You're fired!
01:24Get out of here!
01:25The American presidency is one of the most powerful positions in the world, but despite
01:29what Donald Trump has sometimes claimed, there are clear limits to the office's authority.
01:34A president cannot, for example, pardon someone convicted of a crime at the state level and
01:39state attorneys general are not appointed by the federal government.
01:42Were the legal proceedings against Trump for interference in Georgia's 2020 election to
01:46proceed, Trump would have no ability to rid himself of that particular issue.
01:50But the Georgia case, centered in Fulton County, is likely dead.
01:54The precedent of a sitting president being immune from prosecution applies even at the
01:58state level.
02:00That means that the case would effectively be on hold for the four years of Trump's second
02:03term.
02:04Romani explained,
02:05"...Trump, like any criminal defendant, has a right to a speedy trial, so staying or putting
02:10the cases on hold for four years until he is out of office would not be an option either."
02:15As dispiriting as it may be to many Democrats, Donald Trump's re-election appears to have
02:20closed the book on investigations into his role in subverting the 2020 election.
02:24But what of his outstanding convictions?
02:27Thirty-four felony counts is no small thing, and as it was a matter for New York State,
02:32Trump has no ability to pardon himself.
02:34He has twice succeeded in delaying sentencing.
02:36A decision has yet to be made on Trump's request to toss the convictions altogether due to
02:40a Supreme Court ruling that presidents enjoy total immunity for official acts.
02:45Still, he could still face sentencing if Judge Juan Merchant rules against him.
02:49"...We're wasting our time on this trial.
02:52For the Democrat judge from the clubhouses, it's a disgrace."
02:56However, Romani believes that Trump was never likely to face jail time, even if he had lost
03:01the 2024 election.
03:03As he put it,
03:04"...Merchant didn't remand Trump despite 10 violations of his gag order.
03:08Merchant doesn't have the stomach to imprison a former president or president-elect, nor
03:12would it be appropriate for a defendant with no criminal history convicted of Class E felonies,
03:17the least serious under New York law."
03:19Romani also thinks that, if Trump faces sentencing of any kind, he's likely to appeal it all
03:25the way to the Supreme Court, a third of which he appointed himself.