Legal experts: Trump could face prison if he loses reelection

Jerusalem24 – If American President Donald Trump loses his re-election, he could become the first former president to be charged with a crime. and According to New York Magazine columnist Jeff Wise, more than a dozen investigations are taking place against Trump and his associates.

If Joe Biden is sworn in as president in January, his attorney general will inherit a mountain of criminal evidence against Trump accumulated by Robert Mueller and a host of inspectors general and congressional oversight committees. After the DOJ’s incoming leadership is briefed on any sensitive matters contained in the evidence, federal prosecutors will move forward with their investigations of Trump.

Trump could try to pardon himself on his way out of the White House, which would certainly complicate matters, but Wise believes that Manhattan district attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. would likely charge the president with falsifying business records and tax fraud. Unfortunately for the president, his former attorney Michael Cohen and longtime accountant Allen Weisselberg have already signaled they’re willing to cooperate with prosecutors and both would have strong evidence to prove Trump’s intent.

Accounting for those legal delays, experts told Wise that Trump would likely go on trial by 2023 and last no longer than a few months, and the president’s own supporters have already been persuaded to convict former campaign chairman Paul Manafort.

Unlike the federal court system, which often allows prisoners to remain free during the appeals process, state courts tend to waste no time in carrying out punishment. After someone is sentenced in New York City, their next stop is Rikers Island. Once there, Trump would await a transfer to a state prison.