When Donald Trump’s hush money case kicked off in April 2024, he became the first former president in U.S. history to ever face a criminal trial. Now, he could become the first former president to ever be convicted in a criminal trial, but if that happens, legal expert Neama Rahmani doesn’t think this will affect his upcoming debate with President Joe Biden or his ability to become president.
While Rahmani exclusively told Nicki Swift he doesn’t think Trump will face jail time, he still thinks that he will be hit with some sort of probation. But even probation won’t have that much of an effect on his upcoming political events. “Trump is likely looking at a sentence of probation regardless of whether he is convicted of misdemeanors or felonies and there is nothing prohibiting a convicted felon from participating in a presidential debate,” Rahmani said. Just like there is no rule against a convicted felon from participating in a presidential debate, there is also no restriction should he be sentenced to prison time. “He could theoretically be president from prison,” Rahmani said. If Trump goes to prison, he will even receive his presidential perk of having Secret Service protection.
Still, while it may seem like there won’t be any serious repercussions against Trump should he, or should he not be convicted, it will still be interesting to see how everything plays out, as this is a first for the country.
