WASHINGTON-

The victory claimed Wednesday by Donald Trump in the American presidential election will put an end to criminal proceedings against him, at least for the four years he will occupy the White House.

The first former US president to face criminal charges, Trump for much of this year faced four simultaneous prosecutions, on allegations ranging from his attempt to conceal a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels during his 2016 campaign to his attempts to overturn his 2020 mandate. electoral defeat. In May, a New York jury convicted him of falsifying business records related to Daniels’ payment, making him the first former U.S. president convicted of a crime.

Trump, a Republican, told an interviewer on Oct. 24 that he would fire U.S. special counsel Jack Smith — who led federal prosecutions over his attempts to overturn his election defeat and retention of classified documents after leaving office – “within two seconds”. ” for having taken the oath.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges and called the prosecution politically motivated.

“The American people have heard Democratic prosecutors’ arguments against President Trump and they’re going to elect him anyway,” said Mike Davis, founder of the Article III Project, a conservative legal advocacy group.

Although Trump, as president, will have the power to fire Smith and end federal charges against him, he will not have the same control over the New York hush money case or the prosecutions filed against him by Georgia for trying to overturn his 2020 loss in that state. But his unique role as president makes it unlikely he will face legal consequences in either case during his term.

“He has been rightly accused of crimes within the system that we have,” said Kristy Parker, special adviser at Protect Democracy, an advocacy organization dedicated to countering what she calls authoritarian threats to the United States. . Parker said that while Trump ended the records, “that doesn’t mean it was the right thing.”

Another court date is scheduled before he is sworn in on Jan. 20, although legal experts say that is unlikely to go ahead.

NEW YORK HUSH SILVER CASE

In New York, Trump’s lawyers are expected to ask Judge Juan Merchan to delay his sentencing, currently scheduled for November 26, for which he faces up to four years in prison. Convicting a president-elect before Inauguration Day would be unprecedented in U.S. history, and legal experts expect the hearing to be delayed.

Merchan has already twice postponed Trump’s sentencing, originally scheduled for July 11, in part because of a July U.S. Supreme Court ruling that found presidents enjoy broad immunity against prosecution for their official acts. Trump argues the case should be dismissed based on the ruling, which prosecutors dispute.

Trump has vowed to appeal his conviction once he is sentenced. Separately, his lawyers asked the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to transfer the case to federal court. Such a move, if successful, could create new legal obstacles to the case.

FEDERAL PROSECUTIONS

Trump faces four charges in federal court in Washington, accusing him of spreading false claims of voter fraud to try to block the collection and certification of votes after the 2020 election, which Trump lost to the Democrat Joe Biden.

Smith had also accused Trump of illegally retaining classified documents after his first term ended in 2021 and of obstructing the U.S. government’s efforts to recover the documents.

Florida-based U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who was appointed to the bench by Trump, dismissed all charges in July after finding that Smith was wrongly appointed to the position and did not have the authority to bring the case.

Smith’s team is appealing the decision, but Trump’s promise to fire Smith immediately after taking office likely marks the end of the matter.

RACKETING CASE IN GEORGIA

Prosecutors in Fulton County, Georgia, last year used the state’s racketeering laws — designed to combat organized crime — to charge Trump with an alleged plot to overturn his defeat in that sweeping state battle in the 2020 elections.

Trump will not be able to end the prosecution, but his lawyer has already said in court that he will seek to suspend all Trump-related activity, based on the argument that a president should not face the burden of criminal prosecution while in office.

Trump and eight of his 14 co-defendants in the case are asking a Georgia appeals court to disqualify the lead prosecutor, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, for alleged misconduct stemming from a romantic relationship she had with a former MP. Oral arguments are scheduled for December 5.

If those efforts fail, the case could be pursued against the other co-defendants, including Trump’s former personal attorney Rudy Giuliani and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows. But legal experts expect the case against Trump will not move forward while he remains in the White House.

(Reporting by Andrew Goudsward and Luc Cohen; editing by Scott Malone and Daniel Wallis)