Former President Donald Trump became the first president—current or former—to be criminally charged after he was indicted by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office Thursday. But legal experts say he can still become and serve as president even if he’s in prison.
Amid multiple investigations, Trump—who has categorically denied any wrongdoing and said such probes are part of a witch hunt designed to wound him politically—has said he won’t bow out of the 2024 race for the White House. Since reports surfaced that he would be charged earlier this month, Trump has made that a central part of his campaign messaging, often posting about his arrest on social media.
The U.S. Constitution does not say that having a criminal record bars an individual from becoming president. It says that natural-born citizens who are aged 35 and older and who have been a resident of the United States for 14 years can become president. The 22nd Amendment, meanwhile, stipulates that people who have twice been elected president cannot become president again.
“The only way he can be disqualified is if they can prove that he actually fought in the Civil War for the South. If he fought for the Civil War in the south, he’s out,” retired Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz quipped to The Epoch Times earlier this month. “But other than that, if he’s 35 years old, was born in America, and didn’t fight in the Civil War for the south. He’s eligible. And [can] run from prison.”
James Sampler, a constitutional law professor at Hofstra University, told the outlet that the Constitution sets a low number of requirements. It was done that way to allow voters the maximum freedom to decide, he said.
“It depends on the wisdom of the people to determine that an individual is not fit for office,” Sampler said. “So the most fundamental obstacle that President Trump has in seeking office in 2024 is the obstacle that anyone has, but he has it in a different and more pronounced way—which is proving to the voters that the individual deserves the office.”
On Thursday evening, Trump called the indictment “political persecution” and predicted it would damage Democrats in 2024. In a statement confirming the charges, defense lawyers Susan Necheles and Joseph Tacopina said Trump “did not commit any crime“ and ”we will vigorously fight this political prosecution in court.”
Trump assailed Democrats after they did “the unthinkable—indicting a completely innocent person in an act of blatant Election Interference.”
The case centers on well-chronicled allegations from a period in 2016. Prosecutors scrutinized money paid to adult performer Stormy Daniels and former model Karen McDougal. Trump has denied any allegations of misconduct.
The indictment has not yet been made public. In New York, it’s common for judges to keep charges sealed until a defendant appears in court to face charges, while Trump is reportedly currently at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.
The Epoch Times has contacted Bragg’s office for comment. In a statement posted to Twitter, Bragg’s office wrote that his office contacted Trump’s attorney “to coordinate his surrender to the Manhattan DA’s office for arraignment on a Supreme Court indictment, which remains under seal.”
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