By: Angela Zhang
On June 13, Donald Trump showed up at a court in Miami, Florida, where he pleaded not guilty. Trump is currently facing 37 criminal charges that all point to the mishandling of top-secret government documents that were discovered in his home. Experts say that Trump could still be elected president even if he is convicted.
Boxes of classified documents were found in Trump’s Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago, which were stored in the estate’s bedroom, bathroom, ballroom, and shower. Trump had access to these files during his time as the U.S. president in 2016-2020 and supposedly brought hundreds of these documents back to his estate Mar-a-Lago after he lost the 2020 election to Biden.
These documents contain information about nuclear programs, details on U.S. defense and weapons, foreign governments, and a Pentagon “attack plan“. Paul Quirk, a U.S. politics expert, and professor at the University of British Columbia, says that the charges against Trump are much more severe than previous charges in New York and the case in Georgia. Quirk told CBC News that “ Those documents have some of the most important secrets that the United States has. “
Prosecutors say that these documents would have endangered American soldiers and spies if exposed, and negatively affect the way the U.S. gathers information on foreign countries. They also say that Trump didn’t want government officials to take the documents back and had even suggested to his lawyer to destroy them.
Trump refuses to admit that he did anything wrong, and he’s free until he goes to court again months later. If found guilty, Trump could spend up to 20 years in prison as a result of the penalties of the charges pressed against him. This indictment doesn’t seem to stop him, as he said that “ under no circumstances whatsoever so “ would he quit the 2024 election.
Mulloy says that although unlikely, it is a possibility that we will see Trump be convicted and also win the upcoming 2024 election. He says that one of the possible outcomes of this situation is that Trump would continue to be the president of the U.S. even if he goes to prison. This is the first time in history that a former president has had to face criminal charges, so it’s hard to predict what will happen next without a precedent to give us an idea of the outcome. “That’s what makes this so unprecedented. Anything can happen. Though it’s hard to imagine how someone could run a country from a prison cell.”
Quirk also agrees that the idea of Trump becoming a prisoner-president isn’t impossible, and says that “You could have a president with an ankle bracelet, with restrictions. It’s a possibility, but how that would be handled, nobody knows. “ However, both Quirk and Mulloy agree that there are many ways that Trump could escape his charges. According to Quirk, “The prosecutor, for example, might decide that it’s implausible to continue with a trial. “ Even though this hasn’t been tested, Mulloy says that Trump could perhaps even use his presidential power to pardon himself and escape conviction.
References:
President-prisoner? Trump could still be elected if convicted, say experts. (2022, September 25). CBC Kids News. Retrieved June 22, 2023, from https://eb18600f7bb2916037f5ee8e636ce199.cdn.bubble.io/f1687115706260x331876651701332300/President-prisoner_%20Trump%20could%20still%20be%20elected%20if%20convicted%2C%20say%20experts%20_%20Article%20_%20Kids%20News.pdf