Can Donald Trump Still Be Elected As The President Despite His 4th Indictment?
For the second time this month, Donald Trump has been formally accused of offenses linked to undermining the 2020 election, occurring in Georgia. Remarkably, this marks the fourth instance this year in which the former President has encountered legal allegations, as per CNN. The indictment and continuing investigations into Donald Trump's alleged criminal activities introduce a tangible, albeit currently distant, possibility that a prominent candidate for the 2024 presidential nomination might confront the potential of serving time in prison.
There are no legal barriers to pursuing a presidential candidature despite being a convicted felon, even if one is incarcerated. Should Trump find himself in such a situation, he would be emulating the path of a fellow provocative populist and recurrent presidential aspirant: Eugene V. Debs, an openly declared socialist who garnered close to a million votes while imprisoned a century ago, according to Politico.
As reported by CNN, Richard L. Hasen, a prominent authority in election law and a law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, affirmed that Donald Trump retains a potential route to the presidency if he secures re-election in 2024. "The Constitution has very few requirements to serve as President, such as being at least 35 years of age. It does not bar anyone indicted, or convicted, or even serving jail time, from running as president and winning the presidency," he said in an email to CNN earlier this month.
Although Legal scholars have highlighted the 14th Amendment as a potential means to prevent Trump from assuming office in the event of a conviction, this amendment features a "disqualification clause" that prohibits individuals from holding public office if they have participated in insurrection, rebellion, or provide support to those opposing the same.
"There’s a big open debate over whether that element of the 14th Amendment is self-executing, and then open to judicial enforcement or whether Congress would need to pass legislation to enforce that provision. And that’s a debate that the legal academies are currently having now, we have no answer for that. But to the extent that there might be a conviction in Georgia or in Washington, DC, for these election-related crimes, I think that that’s another big open question about how these charges might relate to [Trump’s] ability and his eligibility to hold the office of the presidency," said Anthony Michael Kreis, an assistant professor of law at Georgia State University.
Achieving an electoral triumph while incarcerated would trigger complex constitutional considerations, yet the prevailing perspective among legal experts is that the imperative for a legitimately elected President to carry out their presidential responsibilities would take precedence over a criminal verdict. According to Politico, this would likely result in a temporary suspension of the sentence at the very least.
On Monday, Mr. Trump and 18 co-defendants were confronted with charges detailed in a 41-count indictment in Fulton County, Georgia. This indictment emerged following an investigation led by District Attorney Fani Willis' team. The focus of this inquiry revolved around Trump's efforts to overturn the outcome of the pivotal swing state's 2020 presidential election. A recording came to light wherein the 45th president is heard applying pressure on Georgia's secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, during an official phone call that took place on January 2, 2021. In the course of the call, Trump allegedly urged Raffensperger to aid him in identifying the 11,780 votes needed to surpass Joe Biden's narrow victory in Georgia's election, as per the Independent.
