Donald Trump's presidential election victory on Wednesday will end the criminal cases brought against him, at least for the four years he occupies the White House. The first former president to face criminal charges, Trump for much of this year faced four simultaneous prosecutions, over allegations ranging from his attempt to cover up a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels during his 2016 campaign to his attempts to overturn his 2020 election defeat. A New York jury in May found him guilty of falsifying business records tied to the Daniels payment, making him the first former president convicted of a felony. Trump said he would fire special counsel Jack Smith -- who led the prosecutions over his election defeat and retention of classified documents after leaving office -- "within two seconds" of being sworn in, Reuters reports.
"The American people have heard these Democrat prosecutors' cases against President Trump and they're still going to elect him anyway," said Mike Davis of the Article III Project, a conservative legal advocacy group. While Trump will have the authority to fire Smith and shut down the federal cases against him, he will not have the same control over the New York hush money case or Georgia's prosecution of him for trying to overturn his 2020 loss in that state. His role as president makes it unlikely he will face legal consequences in either case during his term in office. "He was properly charged with crimes within the system we have," said Kristy Parker of Protect Democracy, an advocacy organization dedicated to countering what it calls authoritarian threats. Parker said if Trump does shut down the cases, "that won't mean it was the right thing." In New York, Trump’s lawyers are expected to ask Justice Juan Merchan to delay his sentencing scheduled for Nov. 26 , in which he could face up to four years in prison. Sentencing a president-elect ahead of Inauguration Day would be unprecedented, and legal experts expect the hearing to be delayed.
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