May 30th 2024.
Donald Trump has made history as the first former president of the United States to be convicted of felony crimes. However, it is uncertain whether he will actually serve jail time for his offenses. A New York jury has found him guilty of falsifying business records as part of a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election. This scheme involved hush money payments to a porn actor who claimed to have had a sexual encounter with Trump.
Of course, Trump is not taking this verdict lying down. He is expected to appeal the decision and try to clear his name. This poses an interesting predicament for him as he also plans to return to the presidential campaign trail. It will be quite awkward for him to do so as a convicted felon.
The charges Trump was found guilty of carry a maximum sentence of four years in prison. However, it is unclear at this time whether prosecutors will seek imprisonment for him. Even if they do, it is not certain that the judge presiding over the case will actually impose that punishment. During the trial, the judge had warned of jail time for anyone who violated a gag order. But it remains to be seen if this warning will be taken seriously.
The jury's verdict was handed down on July 11, and the judge has set the same date for sentencing. According to Dan Horwitz, a defense lawyer and former prosecutor, there is a possibility that Trump could be sentenced to home detention. In this scenario, he would serve his sentence at a location outside of New York, such as his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. The state of New York would coordinate with Florida's probation department to monitor Trump's confinement.
If Trump does end up serving time in jail, the location will depend on the length of his sentence. However, this conviction and potential imprisonment will not prevent him from continuing his pursuit of the White House. The US Constitution only has three requirements for presidential candidates: they must be a natural-born citizen, at least 35 years old, and a US resident for at least 14 years. Trump meets all of these requirements.
Some may argue that there is another criterion outlined in the 14th Amendment, which states that anyone who has previously taken an oath of office and engages in insurrection cannot hold a position in the US government. However, the Supreme Court has ruled that Congress would have to pass a special law invoking this prohibition, which is unlikely to happen anytime soon.
In fact, there have been instances of presidential campaigns being run from prison cells, although they were ultimately unsuccessful. So, it is not impossible for a convicted felon to run for president. With all of this in mind, it will be interesting to see how Trump's legal troubles play out and if they will have any impact on his future political aspirations.
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