In an unprecedented turn of events in U.S history in 2023, former President, Donald J Trump, is being indicted in 4 different cases in different states, over the course of four and a half months. A former president -or current president- has never faced criminal charges in the entire history of the United States.  In New York State, he is being pressed with 34 felony counts in relation to payments made to an adult actress in 2016, to keep quiet about an affair Trump and the actress allegedly had. 

Meanwhile, in Florida, Trump is contending with 40 felony counts pertaining to the possession of classified materials and hindering efforts to recover them. In the capital, Washington, D.C, he is up against four felony counts for actions he took with the aim of altering the outcome of the 2020 election in relation to the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S Capitol building. Additionally, in the state of Georgia, Trump  is facing 13 felony counts due to his allegedly “extensive” involvement in the state’s election affairs.

In 2021 and 2020, Trump’s effort to change the outcome of the election were most aggressive in Georgia, a state in which multiple accounts say that Joe Biden narrowly won the states 16 electoral votes. Despite this, Trump spread lies about voter fraud and election interference, urged Georgia officials and state lawmakers to overturn Biden’s win and conspired to send illegitimate electors to Washington D.C.  According to Politico, on Jan. 2, 2021, on a phone call with Georgia’s secretary-of-state, Brad Raffesnperger, “urged him to ‘find’ 11,780 votes”–the number needed to overcome Biden’s victory. Fani Willis, the District Attorney in Fulton County, Georgia, charged Trump and his allies under the state’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, better known as RICO, as well as a number of other charges in relation to RICO. “The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) of 1970 seeks to strengthen the legal tools in evidence gathering by establishing new penal prohibitions and providing enhanced sanctions and new remedies for dealing with the unlawful activities of those engaged in organized crime.”, the definition of the term provided by the U.S Department of Justice. 

Essentially, RICO is a federal provision for federal and state governments to more effectively fight organized crime. Should the former President be convicted in any of the four cases, he can still run for office, and is very likely to, especially if he wins the Republican GOP Nomination. It is not certain of whether-or-not he will be able to serve as President from a jail cell, there are no statues in the Constitution or other law in the U.S that cover the topic. 

However, some legal experts have said the 14th Amendment  “includes a ‘disqualification clause’ that bars anyone from holding public office if they ‘have engaged in insurrection or rebellion’ or ‘given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.’”, according to CNN. 

In the case of the federal cases, the classified documents case and the Jan. 6 riot case, if Trump wins the election before the federal trials are concluded, a Trump Justice Department may be able to drop the case entirely. If he is convicted either before or after winning the election, a self-presidential pardon is still in question, as no former president has tried it.  UCLA law professor Richard L. Hasen said in an email to CNN  earlier in August–on the topic of a self pardon– said “Whether he can do so is untested. The Supreme Court may have to weigh in,” Hasen said, adding that Trump could appeal a conviction to the Supreme Court.