Will Donald Trump go to prison? Can he still run for president? The arrest of the former president could change the course of history. Here’s everything you need to know about it.
What happened?
The 77-year-old received a criminal indictment (a formal way of saying he received a document telling him he’d been charged with a crime) on Tuesday for trying to overturn the election which he lost in 2020.
What crimes has he been charged with?
Trump faces four counts relating to the plot:
● conspiracy to defraud the US
● conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding
● obstruction of an official proceeding ●conspiracy against the rights of citizens.
The first count relates to his alleged attempts to obstruct the collection, counting and certification of votes.
The second and third counts both relate to his involvement in the Capitol Riots on 6 January 2021, when over 2,000 Trump supporters stormed the Capitol building in Washington DC. Most of the supporters attended a Trump rally before heading to the Capitol. Five people were killed in the insurrection.
The fourth charge relates to an alleged attempt to interfere with a citizen’s right to vote.
Can he still run for president in 2024?
The short answer is yes. The US constitution does not ban anyone convicted of a crime from running for presiden.
However, there is a law banning anyone who has takenthe oath to become president and then committed “insurrection or rebellion” against the country. But this isn’t straightforward either, and there’s likely to be many legal cases brought forward to block Trump’s route to the presidency.
Will they succeed? It’s anybody’s guess.
Can he go to prison?
Yes. If convicted on all four counts, Trump faces a maximum sentence of several decades behind bars. The bad news for him is that the judge sentencing him was appointed by former president Barrack Obama, a political enemy of Trump’s. The good news is that charges like these rarely result in the maximum sentence.
Trump may have another trump card up his sleeve. As president, he could theoretically pardon himself from going to prison.
Compiled by staff write
Pictured above: Donald Trump
