Having become the first former American president to be criminally convicted on Thursday, Donald Trump will nevertheless be able to continue campaigning to take back the White House from his Democratic successor Joe Biden.
• Read also: If Donald Trump is imprisoned, it will be “the end of his political career”, says Jean-Marc Léger
• Read also: Donald Trump trial: cries of joy heard during guilty verdict
• Read also: A rapid and historic verdict whose political fallout remains uncertain
Paradoxically, while he fulminated at each of his appearances that the trial had kept him away from the campaign four days a week since April 15, with this verdict he regained his complete freedom of maneuver, at least until July 11.
Because Judge Juan Merchan set his sentencing date for July 11 at 10 a.m. in the New York court, four days before the convention which will officially induct him as Republican candidate in the presidential election on November 5. The judge let him go free without requiring bail.
He gave the defense until June 13 to present its arguments for sentencing and until June 27 for the prosecution to respond.
The New York prosecutor who investigated the case, Alvin Bragg, who welcomed the verdict on Thursday evening, did not wish to indicate whether the prosecution intended to request a prison sentence.
- Listen to the American political discussion with Stéphan Bureau on Alexandre Dubé’s microphone via QUB :
Donald Trump theoretically faces prison time, with falsification of accounting documents punishable by a maximum of four years in New York State.
But in the absence of a criminal record of the defendant, who will be 78 years old at the time of sentencing, the judge should instead sentence him to a suspended prison sentence, or to community service, as well as possibly a fine.
In any case, Donald Trump has one month to notify his intention to appeal, announced on Thursday evening by his lawyers, and then several months to do so officially. This appeal will most likely have a suspensive effect on his sentence, particularly in the event of prison time.
And a possible trial or appeal is unlikely to be held before the presidential election.
This criminal conviction, any more than a possible prison sentence, does not invalidate his candidacy in any case. If he wins, he will be able to take office in January 2025. However, he will not be able to pardon himself or order the abandonment of these proceedings since it is a procedure of the State of New York and not federal.
At the end of the trial, Donald Trump repeated that the “real verdict” would not be that of the twelve New York jurors but of tens of millions of American voters on November 5.
