Summary
Donald Trump’s re-election raises questions about the fate of his ongoing legal battles.
Facing 34 felony convictions and several federal and state charges, Trump could attempt to leverage presidential immunity to delay or dismiss cases.
Judge Juan Merchan will soon rule on whether immunity applies to Trump’s New York case involving hush-money payments, potentially canceling his sentencing.
While Trump can self-pardon federal charges, he has no such power in state cases like Georgia’s election interference trial, which may remain on hold until his term ends.
Civil lawsuits, including those for sexual abuse and fraud, are still viable under a Supreme Court precedent allowing presidents to be sued.
I actually don’t think there’s any uncertainty. He’s been quite clear about what he’ll do. He’ll kill all federal cases and ongoing federal investigations, pardon himself for everything he can pardon himself for, and all of the state proceedings will be paused until after his term. In the meantime he’ll “investigate,” threaten, and bully anyone involved in the various state cases, and given his age it is incredibly unlikely that legal proceedings will ever result in justice for his myriad crimes.