The newly-elected 47th president, Donald Trump, could escape convictions in two cases in which he is involved: he is accused of helping in an attempt to overturn the 2020 election, and he is accused of retaining possession of official documents after leaving the White House. Special Counsel Jack Smith, who filed the court documents, is in talks with top Justice Department officials to have the two cases dismissed as soon as possible.
According to a Justice Department decision, the sitting president cannot be criminally prosecuted while serving his presidential term. To date, it is unclear how Smith will proceed with the filing of the two cases. Trump, for his part, had promised that if re-elected, he would fire the special counsel “within two seconds.” However, if the filing goes forward, his dismissal would not be necessary.
On Nov. 26 will come the final verdict in the trial over the hush money with which Trump allegedly paid former porn star Stormy Daniels’ silence as the 2016 election approached. He has already been found guilty, but the sentencing is still pending.
And a decision is still awaited from a state appeals court on whether to pay all or part of a nearly $500 million judgment in the civil fraud case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James. Finally, Trump still owes $90 million to Elle columnist E. Jean Carroll for sexually assaulting and then defaming her.
