WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – President-elect Donald Trump won the White House while four criminal cases were pending against him.
Two of them are state cases and the other two are federal. Georgetown Law Professor Erica Hashimoto said the federal cases will likely disappear, because Trump will install a new Attorney General who will have authority over them.
“I would be very surprised if the new attorney general was of the opinion that cases brought by the special counsel should move forward,” Hashimoto said.
The state cases are more complicated, Hashimoto said.
The New York “Hush Money case” was the only one to go to trial. A jury found Trump guilty of falsifying business records to conceal a payment to porn actress Stormy Daniels. Sentencing is set for Nov. 26 in that case, but Hashimoto said Judge Juan Merchan could decide to put sentencing on hold. Hashimoto said Merchan will likely take the opinion of Trump’s lawyers into consideration.
“He could definitely do it now and get it over with,” Hashimoto said. “He could just wait.”
Further complicating that case, Trump’s lawyers have filed a motion to dismiss or retry the New York case because of the Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity. The court ruled presidents are immune from prosecution for official acts while in office. Even though the crime happened while Trump was a candidate, Hashimoto said Merchan will have to decide whether evidence presented during the trial is allowed under the Supreme Court’s new guidelines.
“The New York Attorney General’s Office put in some evidence of texts and other things that Donald Trump posted after he became president,” Hashimoto said.
Whatever Merchan decides, Hashimoto said it will likely be appealed.
“I don’t see a way the Supreme Court doesn’t weigh in on that,” Hashimoto said.
In Georgia, Trump was charged with participating in a scheme to try to overturn the state’s election results. An appeals court put the case on hold while it considers whether a romantic relationship between District Attorney Fani Willis and a special prosecutor hired for the case created a conflict of interest.
“The Georgia case is a mess,” Hashimoto said. “I don’t see it moving forward in the next four years.”
In a federal case in Florida, Trump was charged with illegally keeping classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed that case, arguing that Special Counsel Jack Smith was illegally appointed. The special counsel has filed an appeal, but Hashimoto said they may not continue the appeal.
“If there’s an 11th circuit opinion saying that there’s no power to appoint special counsels, that’s more problematic for the Justice Department than a district court opinion,” Hashimoto said.
Judge Tanya Chutkan has paused all of the deadlines in the special counsel’s D.C. case. Trump is accused of trying to overturn the 2020 election. A person familiar with the special counsel’s two federal cases said he is evaluating how to wind down the cases against President-elect Trump before the inauguration in January.
