A grand jury voted earlier Thursday to indict Trump on criminal charges for his role in organizing hush money payments made to an adult film star during his 2016 campaign. By this decision, Donald Trump is the first president to face criminal charges.

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Edited by Paul Mitchel
World section
31 March 2023 - The Hill

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        But the Charges won't prevent him to join the 2024 presidential election as legal scholars explain that Trump is still legally able to continue his White House.
They said that the Constitution does not offer any disqualifications for candidates seeking the presidency if they’re either indicted or in jail.

“There is no disqualification that says that if you are indicted, you can’t run in the Constitution. There’s not even a disqualification that says that if you’re in jail, you can’t run. And so the Constitution itself has limited qualifications and doesn’t say that you can’t serve if you’re indicted or in jail,” Saikrishna Prakash, a law professor at the University of Virginia’s School of Law, explained

The big unknown, however, is when the criminal prosecution – and possible conviction – might take place given Trump’s candidacy. Those questions could become murkier if the former president wins reelection for the White House in 2024.

“The easy answer is we have no idea. We don’t know because it’s never happened,” said Susan Low Bloch, a constitutional law professor at Georgetown Law School.

 

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• Read More|PENCE CRITICIZES GRAND JURY’S DECISION TO INDICT TRUMP , DESCRIBING IT AS AN “OUTRAGE''
• read more |TRUMP CRITICIZES THE" CRAZY " EDUCATION SYSTEM IN THE UNITED STATES

 

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If Trump wins the presidency in 2024, Bloch sees two possibilities: “One is that the indictment and thereafter a trial goes forward, even though he’s now president or the indictment gets sort of suspended,” she said
She explained that she didn’t believe that a sitting president should be tried and indicted, but that the prosecution should take place after that person leaves office.

Prakash explained that while the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel has taken the stance against indicting or prosecuting a sitting president, local prosecutors, like Bragg could make their own decisions on that and do not necessarily have to take the same position as the Justice Department.

The indictment, which remains under seal, follows an investigation by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) that centered on a $130,000 payment fixer Michael Cohen made to adult film star Stormy Daniels shortly before the election.

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