By Jack Queen
(Reuters) – Donald Trump’s criminal conviction for illegally concealing a payment to a porn star will not stop the Republican candidate from continuing his campaign to win back the White House, even though he was sentenced to prison sentence before the November 5 elections.
Here’s why.
HOW CAN TRUMP BE PRESIDENT DESPITE CONVICTION?
The U.S. Constitution only requires that presidents be at least 35 years old and that U.S. citizens have lived in the country for 14 years.
Neither a criminal conviction nor a prison sentence would affect Trump’s electability or ability to become president. In theory, he could take the oath of office from jail or prison if he were to overthrow the Democratic Party. President Joe Biden in the elections of November 5.
Presidential prison campaigns are not unprecedented in U.S. history. Socialist Eugene Debs ran unsuccessfully for president from prison in the 1920 election, although unlike Trump, he was not a serious candidate.
Will Trump go to jail?
It is not yet known what sentence, if any, the judge will impose.
Trump is a first-time offender for a nonviolent crime, and it is rare for people with no criminal history who are convicted solely of falsifying business records to be sentenced to prison in New York. Sanctions such as fines or probation are more common.
The maximum sentence for Trump’s crime of falsifying business records is 1.1/3 to four years in prison, but in cases involving prison time, defendants are typically sentenced to a year or less.
If punished beyond a fine, Trump could be placed under house arrest or subject to a curfew rather than prison.
As a former president, he has a lifetime of Secret Service, and the logistics of keeping him safe behind bars could be complicated.
Trump could also be released on bail while appealing his conviction.
HOW COULD THE GUILTY VERDICT AFFECT THE ELECTION?
Although the hush money case is widely considered the least consequential of the four criminal prosecutions Trump faces, the guilty verdict could have implications for the election.
Opinion polls show a guilty verdict could cost him votes in an election that could be decided by tens of thousands of votes in just a handful of battleground states.
One in four Republicans said they would not vote for Trump if he were convicted in a criminal trial, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll of registered voters in April. In the same survey, 60% of independents said they would not vote for Trump if he were convicted of a crime.
(Reporting by Jack Queen; editing by Noeleen Walder, Howard Goller and Daniel Wallis)
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