What happens to Trump’s criminal cases if he wins or loses US Election 2024

If Donald Trump wins the US presidential race against Kamala Harris, the 78-year-old Republican will make it to the White House a second time. In doing so, Trump will be the first convicted person to win US elections.
And in case he loses the election, Trump will probably face series of court cases and a potential jail term too, according to US media reports.
During his previous term (2016-2020), Trump became the first president to be impeached twice. First for withholding military aid to pressure Ukraine to investigate his political opponents and then for instigating a ‘coup’ on January 6, 2021 after his defeat to Democrat Joe Biden.
“He branded himself as the guy who gets away with it. He is facing a lot of moments of reckoning. He could go to jail. He could end up considerably less wealthy than he is. No matter what happens, and no matter whether he wins or loses, there will be a reckoning over his health. Death, ill health, dementia – those are things even he can’t escape,” Gwenda Blair, a Trump biographer, was quoted as saying in a Guardian report.
If he wins the election and returns to the White House for a second term, Trump has vowed to fire Jack Smith – the special counsel who has brought two federal cases against him, ‘within two seconds.’
Trump faces four criminal cases. Any one of these cases would scuttle the chances of any other White House hopeful, according to a report in the Guardian. Mint lists some of the cases that Trump faces and how the trials will be impacted by the results of US Election 2024.
In May, Donald Trump was found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records relating to a hush-money payment to the adult film star Stormy Daniels, making him the first former president to be convicted of felony.
Trump will likely be sentenced in the case on November 26 — three weeks after Election Day, according to US media reports. The sentencing proceedings have been delayed twice to give Trump and his lawyers more time to argue. The judge delayed it last on September 18 after the Republican nominee sought time until after the elections.
In case Trump is sentenced, his lawyers will challenge it. Some analysts say, an election victory would give Trump additional fodder for an appeal to avoid jail time. His lawyers have argued in another cases against Trump that the US Constitution bars the president from being restricted from carrying out his official duties.
Trump’s election interference case will also come into play if  he loses to Democrat Kamala Harris.
Trump is charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States for allegedly trying to overturn the 2020 election results in this case. Trump lost to Biden in 2020. This case was supposed to go to trial earlier this year, according to NBC news. Trump’s lawyers had been arguing that he was protected from allegations of wrongdoing because of presidential immunity.
After his loss to Biden, Trump addressed his infamous ‘Stop the Steal’ rally on January 6, 2021, which followed a deadly mob attack on the US Capitol.
In case Trump becomes the President, the case is expected to be dismissed, as per US media reports
In this case filed in Fulton County, Georgia, Trump, along with others, is charged with conspiring to overturn the 2020 election results. An appeal in the court is scheduled for December.
Trump’s defeat might lead to a trial date in the case. He can still appeal it. In case of Trump’s victory, delays are expected in the trial’s beginning.
In September, a court in Georgia dismissed two of the 10 criminal charges against Trump and one other charge against his allies for alleged attempts to interfere in the 2020 presidential election. Three other charges against Trump were dropped earlier this year, a BBC report said. Trump is accused of conspiring with 18 other defendants to interfere in the election result.
Trump and 14 other accused have pleaded not guilty to racketeering and other state charges related to alleged efforts to overturn the former president’s loss in Georgia. Four accused have pleaded guilty in the case.
In July, US District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the criminal case charging Trump with lying and trying to mislead federal investigators to retain sensitive classified materials after he left the White House in 2021.
The court found special counsel Jack Smith illegal. Smith has appealed arguing that the case should be allowed to proceed.
Smith’s office is expected to proceed with the case even if Trump is elected as the next President of the United States. There are chances, however, that the special counsel’s office would be shut down and appeals dismissed.
There are some cases that won’t get affected regardless of the US Presidential election results. This include Trump’s pending appeals of civil judgments against him of about $500 million that he needs to pay in a fraud case. Trump has challenged the largest award — more than $478 million and growing by more than $111,000 a day — in a civil fraud case in New York state court, according to NBC News.
Trump has also appealed against the award in which he has to pay about $88 million to writer E Jean Carroll, who filed two suits against Trump – one for allegedly sexually assaulting her in the 1990s, and another for defaming her while he was president.
Trump also faces eight pending civil suits related to his role in the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol. Trump’s lawyers, like in the criminal cases, have argued that his actions were protected by presidential immunity.
According to the US Constitution, a candidate must be at least 35 years old, born a US citizen, and have lived in the US for at least 14 years to contest the presidential election. No one is prohibited from contesting US elections based on character or criminal record. Some state laws prohibit candidates with criminal records from contesting for state or local office. These laws, however, do not apply to federal offices like the White House.
Trump critics cite Section 3 of the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution, saying that he is ineligible to hold office.
Section 3 deals with anyone who is “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” after taking an oath to support the constitution. Critics say that Trump cannot become President or cannot run for President, unless two-thirds of Congress decides to grant him amnesty for his conduct on January 6, 2021.
Election officials in the US do not need any conviction to invoke the 14th Amendment to prohibit Trump from contesting, according to an article in the New York Times. And even if that happens, the Supreme Court would come into the picture.
Legally, Trump would be eligible to be the President even if he is behind bars. The US Constitution doesn’t say anything about that. He could, however, be stripped of his authority under the 25th Amendment. In that scenario, the authority is transferred to the Vice President since the President is unable to discharge his duties. But for that to happen, the Vice President and President’s cabinet have to in majority, declare him unable to fulfil his duties, which is very unlikely.
The US President can pardon himself, too. The US Constitution gives the President broad power to pardon federal crimes, except in cases involving impeachment.