Convicting a former United States president on a felony was not on many Americans’ 2024 bingo cards. For others, voting him back into office might have caused them to throw out their cards completely.
With the election over and Republican Donald Trump triumphant, winning all battleground states against his Democratic rival Vice President Kamala Harris, what will become of the myriad legal battles against him?
Former U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr told Fox News that it’s in the country’s best interest that they be dismissed.
“The American people have rendered their verdict on President Trump, and decisively chosen him to lead the country for the next four years,” he said. “They did that with full knowledge of the claims against him by prosecutors around the country and I think Attorney General (Merrick) Garland and the state prosecutors should respect the people’s decision and dismiss the cases against President Trump now.”
For the last two years, Trump has spent his time balancing courtroom proceedings with campaign rallies, and both seem to have strengthened his popularity. However, not everyone expected this outcome.
New York Attorney General Letitia James headed the New York civil fraud case, which left Trump with a multimillion-dollar penalty in damages and banned him from doing business in New York state for three years.
In a press conference posted on X, James congratulated the former and future president on his victory. In her remarks, James said she and her office would attempt to work with the Trump administration without compromising “our values or our integrity or our principles.”
“We did not expect this result, but we are prepared to respond to this result,” she added, emphasizing that her office had handled his administration before and used the “rule of law” to combat Trump before.
“We are prepared to fight back once again.”
Trump has pleaded not guilty in all of the cases brought against him.
The current state of his lawsuits
The “hush money” case
A sentencing date is currently set for Nov. 26 in the New York criminal case that labeled Trump a felon after being found guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records.
It remains up in the air whether Judge Juan Merchan will follow through following Trump’s election win. According to CNN, Merchan has given himself until Nov. 12 to make a decision. If he is to continue with proceedings, Trump’s legal team is expected to request a delay and ultimately appeal the conviction.
Jan. 6 case
Having brought two federal lawsuits against Trump, special prosecutor Jack Smith’s job may be on the line. Prosecutors allege Trump and his allies knowingly pushed election fraud lies to pressure state officials to overturn Joe Biden’s win in 2020 and inciting violence when men and women stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
In October, during a phone interview on the “Hugh Hewitt Show,” Trump said one of his first roles as president would be to handle Smith’s lawsuits, per ABC News.
“We got immunity at the Supreme Court. It’s so easy. I would fire him within two seconds. He’ll be one of the first things addressed,” he said.
Now, having won the 2024 election, the case accusing Trump of conspiring to overturn the results of his election loss to Biden in 2020 is not likely to gain back traction.
The other federal case, pertaining to classified documents found at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate following his presidency, was dismissed by Judge Aileen Cannon in July. Cannon cited Smith’s appointment to the case as unlawful. Smith appealed the dismissal.
Georgia RICO case
The racketeering case in which Trump and 18 others were initially accused of scheming to overturn his presidential loss in 2020 against Biden has been paused since July due to a legal battle over whether Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis should be removed from the case for having an intimate relationship with one of her top deputy officers Nathan Wade.
Oral arguments are set for Dec. 5, but the case is unlikely to progress even if Willis isn’t disqualified due to Trump’s win.