What Happens if Trump Is Convicted? Your Questions, Answered

TIME

As the Manhattan criminal trial of former President Donald Trump heads into the final stretch, a jury will soon deliver a verdict that could raise a series of unprecedented legal and political questions if Trump is convicted.

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00:00 A Manhattan jury will soon decide if Donald Trump is guilty or not guilty in his hush

00:04 money trial, and the stakes are incredibly high.

00:07 Donald Trump is the only former president in the US ever to be indicted, and this New

00:11 York case will render the first verdict and may be the only case of his that gets to trial

00:16 before the election.

00:18 Trump is facing 34 felony counts in this case over allegations that he falsified business

00:22 records to conceal a $130,000 hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels before

00:28 the 2016 election.

00:30 A verdict is expected shortly after Memorial Day, with closing arguments scheduled for

00:34 May 28.

00:35 But what happens if Trump is convicted?

00:38 Will he be sent to jail?

00:40 Can he appeal?

00:41 Can he even vote for himself in the November election?

00:44 We're going to answer all of your questions.

00:51 Donald Trump can run for president even if he's convicted.

00:54 A felony conviction does not legally prevent someone from running for president, even if

00:58 they were jailed.

01:00 The Constitution says that all natural born citizens who are at least 35 years old and

01:04 have been a resident of the US for 14 years can run for president.

01:08 Being a felon isn't a disqualifier.

01:11 History also tells us that candidates with criminal convictions have run for president

01:14 in the past, albeit unsuccessfully.

01:17 About 100 years ago, Eugene Debs ran for president while in federal prison as the nominee of

01:22 the Socialist Party, and he got close to a million votes without ever hitting the campaign

01:25 trail.

01:26 Another convicted presidential candidate, Lyndon LaRouche, ran for president in every

01:30 election between 1976 and 2004, including one campaign from prison, but he only got

01:36 over 26,000 votes.

01:41 It's possible, but it's not a certainty.

01:46 The judge in this case, Justice Juan Marchand, has final discretion in sentencing, and given

01:51 factors like Trump's age, he's about to turn 78, and his lack of prior convictions,

01:56 he might avoid jail time.

01:58 In fact, most first-time offenders in non-violent cases are often sentenced to probation and

02:03 fines.

02:04 That being said, it is possible the judge decides to incarcerate Trump if he's convicted.

02:09 And if he does, it's expected the sentence would be anywhere from one to four years,

02:13 either at New York City's Rikers Island or in one of the New York's 44 state prisons.

02:19 And unlike his other criminal cases, if Trump is convicted in this trial and elected president

02:23 again, he would not be able to try to pardon himself.

02:27 And that's because falsifying business records is a state crime, and only the New York governor

02:31 could pardon him.

02:39 If Trump is convicted, he will almost certainly appeal the verdict, and that process could

02:43 take months to play out.

02:45 It would likely begin in the appellate division in Manhattan, and could eventually reach the

02:49 Court of Appeals in Albany.

02:51 It's hard to say how long that would take, but given the complexity and the significance

02:55 of the case, it's possible that the appeals process wraps up after Election Day.

03:04 We know that Trump can still run for president with a felony conviction, but can he vote

03:08 for himself as a convicted felon?

03:10 Well, it depends.

03:12 For Trump to lose his voting rights, he would need to actually be in jail at the time of

03:16 the November election.

03:17 And like I said earlier, it is possible that the judge hands him a jail sentence, but if

03:21 his appeal takes longer than six months, then he'll be able to vote.

03:26 Now the Constitution does not address whether convicted felons have the right to vote, but

03:30 several states impose limitations on their voting privileges.

03:34 So in Florida, where Trump lives and has voted since 2020, a felon's eligibility to vote

03:38 depends on the laws of the state where the conviction occurred, which in this case is

03:43 New York, which only revokes a felon's voting rights while they are incarcerated.

03:49 So if Trump is convicted and receives a probationary sentence, he would maintain his eligibility

03:54 to vote.

03:55 The only way he wouldn't is if he were in jail at the time of the election.

04:00 Well, first, let me give some background.

04:07 Trump is facing 40 felony counts in Florida for allegedly hoarding classified documents

04:11 and obstructing the government's efforts to retrieve them, 4 counts in Washington related

04:15 to his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election, and 13 felony counts in Georgia

04:20 in connection to his alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election result in that state.

04:25 While a conviction in the Hush Money trial wouldn't directly impact Trump's other cases,

04:30 it could significantly influence his legal strategy and public perception.

04:34 A guilty verdict could embolden prosecutors, it could affect jury perceptions, and potentially

04:39 impact whether he's willing to negotiate a plea deal or settlement agreement, or if he's

04:44 willing to take the stand in those trials.

04:47 It might also undermine Trump's credibility in future trials, and it's possible the judges

04:51 may take the conviction into consideration when determining sentencing.

04:55 Ultimately, though, we don't know what impact conviction would have, but it is possible

05:00 that it influences his legal defense in those cases and shapes the public's perception of

05:04 of his legal troubles.

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