New Delhi:
Millions of Americans on Wednesday celebrated Donald Trump’s remarkable return to the White House – the 78-year-old defied pre-poll predictions to become the first Republican in 20 years to win the popular vote en route to the presidency. But not everyone was quite so happy.
Among his critics was Vanity Fair, a monthly magazine on popular culture and current affairs, which featured Mr Trump on the cover of its newest digital issue, with a sequence of numbers highlighting the legal disputes that still surround the President-elect.
At the top of the list is the 34 felony charges the incoming American President faced in a criminal case in the State of New York. The court ruled Mr Trump altered business records to hide over $400,000 in payments made to Stormy Daniels, an adult film actor, to try and conceal details of their sexual encounter. He was convicted – the next number, 1 conviction – on all counts in May.
Mr Trump – who slammed the entire case as a “witch hunt” and protested his innocence – is the first felon to be elected as President of the United States. He has said he will appeal the verdict.
Sentencing was delayed till after the result of this election; it will be held on November 26, while a separate hearing on immunity for the incoming President is expected on November 12.
If the latter hearing goes as Mr Trump will want – i.e., if the court rules he enjoys immunity as a former President – then the former will be dismissed, since the guilty verdict will be overturned.
Even if there is to be no immunity, Mr Trump can now surely postpone any sentencing, although he cannot, as President, pardon himself since this is a state and not federal case.
In the extremely unlikely case the sentencing goes through, Mr Trump could face a maximum of four years in prison, but sentencing a President-elect days before he takes oath (on January 20) would be unprecedented. Mr Trump has also asked for the case to move to a federal court.
The next number – 2 cases pending.
In the first pending case are four charges in a Washington, D.C. court accusing Donald Trump of spreading false claims of election fraud to try and block collection and certification of votes cast in the 2020 election. This is, perhaps, the big one, since it deals with the January 2021 attack on the Capital.
The attack – by a mob of Donald Trump’s supporters – was widely seen as being precipitated by incendiary speeches from the outgoing President, claiming, as he had for weeks earlier without any evidence, that his election win had been “stolen by emboldened radical-left Democrats”.
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The US Supreme Court offered some relief for Mr Trump after ruling some of his actions had immunity, but prosecutors then revised charges to name him as a private citizen instead.
Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges and cast the prosecutions as politically motivated.
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The trial date for this has not yet been set, and with Mr Trump’s election win now, it is unclear if and when this will move forward. As President, Mr Trump can pardon himself for these charges.
The Georgia Case
In the second case, the President-elect and 18 others are accused of criminal conspiracy in trying to overturn his defeat in Georgia in 2020; he lost the state’s 16 electoral votes to Democrat Joe Biden, but popular vote loss was less than 0.5 per cent – 49.47 to Mr Biden and 49.24 to Mr Trump.
The investigation hinges on a call Mr Trump allegedly made, asking a senior George polling official to “find 11,780 votes” – which would have put him a single vote ahead of his rival.
Mr Trump pleaded not guilty, but the trial itself has been delayed by his team seeking to disqualify the public prosecutor for a romantic relationship with a man she hired to work on the case.
Oral arguments on that matter are scheduled for December 5, but Mr Trump’s lawyers are already looking ahead and have said they will ask the court for a suspension of proceedings based on the argument a President ought not to face a criminal prosecution while in office.
As with the New York case, Mr Trump cannot pardon himself as this is a state case, and he also cannot shut down these proceedings as he could the Washington, D.C. charges.
However, this case has also been paused with no certainty on when it will resume.
The other numbers on the Vanity Fair cover pertain to Mr Trump’s 2 impeachments – one in December 2019 on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, and the other in 2021, after the Capitol attack. In both cases Donald Trump was acquitted by the Senate.
The Vanity Fair cover also mentions Mr Trump’s 6 bankruptcy filings, and conclude on a sharply scathing note: “4 more years… the 47th American President.”
But these numbers are trumped by another – 280, the number of electoral college votes in Mr Trump’s pocket and which confirm that he will be the next President of the United States, despite a spirited (and hopeful) but ultimately futile challenge by Democrat Kamala Harris.
With input from agencies
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