Former President Donald Trump is now facing his third criminal indictment — this time for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and block the transfer of presidential power.
If he’s convicted on all the state and federal charges he now faces, he could face a maximum of 641 years in prison, according to analysis from Politico.
Trump is confronting an unprecedented balancing act, campaigning to take back his seat in the White House while facing possible trials in at least three different jurisdictions.
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The deeply personal stakes for Trump add to what is already an election unlike any other in modern history. It’s now not only a debate over the country’s challenges, but a partisan fight over whether the 77-year-old former president and GOP frontrunner should spend time in prison.
If Trump goes on to win the general election, he could direct his attorney general to dismiss the federal cases, fire prosecutors or test the limits of presidential power by trying to pardon himself. But those efforts would only apply to the federal cases, not the state criminal charges he faces in New York or could face in Georgia.
Trump’s first indictment was handed down on March 30 in New York, where he faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. The charges stem from alleged hush money payments to adult movie star Stormy Daniels to cover up a reported affair ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Trump entered a not guilty plea.
Falsifying business records is typically a misdemeanor in New York but can be boosted to a felony if authorities can prove it was done to assist in another crime so the maximum possible prison time for those 34 counts is 136 years in prison (four years per count).
On June 9, in a much more perilous case for the former president, Trump was indicted on 37 felony counts that he mishandled classified documents after leaving the White House and failed to return them to the US Government. The maximum prison time in the federal classified documents case is 450 years.
Trump’s third indictment was handed down on Tuesday in an investigation also headed by Special Counsel Jack Smith, who accuses the former president of trying to overturn the outcome of the 2020 election.
Trump faces four felony counts in this case: two for obstructing an official proceeding, which carries 20 years in prison per count, one count of conspiracy against the right to vote, carrying a maximum 10-year sentence, and one count of defrauding the U.S., which carries a maximum of five years. That’s a total of 55 years in prison on those charges if the judge follows the sentencing guidelines.
In each of Trump’s cases, the judges will take several factors into consideration before issuing a sentence, including Trump’s lack of a criminal history and his willingness to accept any responsibility if convicted.
Putting that issue out front, Trump ally Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., tweeted that she “will still vote for Trump even if he’s in jail.”
Critics have long alleged that Trump’s fear of prosecution was a chief motivator for his decision to mount another campaign. While Trump denies that — insisting that charges never would have been brought had he decided against running — the new indictment ensures his campaign and legal issues are now intertwined.
“The legal messaging is the political messaging and the political messaging is the legal messaging,” Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said of the new reality. “It’s part of what we’re running on. Trump has made the legal issues a big focus of his campaign and from our standpoint, it’s messaging that works."
The combined 78 state and federal charges against Trump are already dominating his stump speeches as he seeks to portray himself as the victim of a politicized Justice Department bent on damaging the prospects of President Joe Biden’s chief political rival. At his rallies, he tries to frame the charges as not just an attack on him, but his supporters.
“They’re not indicting me, they’re indicting you,” he told the crowd at a weekend rally in Erie, Pennsylvania.
Trump appeared in federal court in Washington on Thursday to face the latest charges before headlining an Alabama Republican Party dinner on Friday. He faces another arraignment next week in Florida after Smith filed additional criminal charges against him there in the case related to his handling of classified documents. That will come between a campaign stop in New Hampshire and a possible trip to the Iowa State Fair.
Trump also faces the potential of new charges in Atlanta related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia and must also decide whether to attend the first Republican presidential debate on Aug. 23.
Trump campaign officials said they weren’t worried about such logistical challenges.
“President Trump’s campaign will not be impacted by the deep state's efforts at election interference no matter how hard they try,” said Trump senior campaign adviser Jason Miller, who, like others, argued Trump and his team are well-practiced at being on defense.
But the challenge for Trump goes beyond politics. Each of the cases against him — ranging from the classified documents case in Florida to allegations in New York of making improper hush-money payments to women and the indictment released on Tuesday — will require intense preparation.
“Obviously, under normal circumstances, it’s impossible to prepare for more than one criminal trial at a time," said Barry Boss, a leading white-collar criminal defense attorney. "Usually that’s overwhelming in and of itself. So the notion of having multiple indictments that you’re facing is just to me inconceivable.”
In general, rules require defendants in federal cases to be present for major events like their initial appearances and when a verdict is returned, but give them leeway to decide when else to appear.
“There are some people who are very engaged in their defense and want to talk to you every day, and there are others that leave it to you and will be available if you need them,” Boss said.
The investigations are also dominating Trump’s campaign spending. So far this year, the former president’s political operation has spent more on legal fees defending him, his staff and his allies than on travel, rallies and other campaign expenses combined, an AP analysis found.