A New York jury found former President Donald Trump guilty of 34 felony counts of forgery, and a Yale law professor said there is another tactic his legal team could pursue to restrain Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg The impact of the case on the 2024 presidential election.
In a newly created podcast called “Straight Down the Middle,” Yale law professor Jed Rubenfeld explores what legal options remain for Trump’s defense team after the jury’s verdict , and the upcoming appeals process.
The most obvious path for Trump’s legal team to challenge the conviction is to appeal through the New York appeals court system, with hopes of eventually reaching the Supreme Court – a process that Rubenfeld believes will take years to complete and could It will cause “irreparable harm”.
“Of course, it’s going to take years, and that’s a problem. Why is that a problem? It’s a problem because the election has already been held and if this conviction is illegal and unconstitutional, it could have an impact on the election,” Rude said. Benfield, a constitutional law professor, said on his podcast.
Former Attorney General Bill Barr predicts Trump criminal charges will be ‘overturned’
From left to right: Judge Juan Mercan, former President Donald Trump and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. (Getty Images, AP Photos)
Rubenfeld noted that surveys show that “significant numbers” of American voters say they would still vote for Trump in the upcoming presidential election if he were a convicted felon. “If that’s true, then A conviction in this case is “unlawful” and could interfere with and in fact determine the outcome of the next election for the next president of the United States. “
“Even if the conviction is overturned on appeal years later, the impact is irreversible. In legal terms, this is what is called irreparable harm,” Rubenfeld said.
Rubenfeld said that if the convictions were overturned on appeal, Bragg and Judge Juan Merchant would “unlawfully interfere with the election and determine the outcome of the next election through unconstitutional means.”
“Years of appeals are not going to have any impact on this,” he added.
Despite media reports, Rubenfeld insisted that claims that Trump is a “convicted felon” are “not true” and argued that “because of the jury’s verdict, he is not a convicted felon.”
“You’re not convicted until the judge rules guilty. Now, in New York, Judge Murchin is likely to rule Trump guilty on the same day as sentencing. That’s July 11th.”
Rubenfeld insisted that Trump’s lawyers could take “another avenue” to fight the conviction – filing a lawsuit in federal court and “requesting an emergency, temporary restraining order.”
Rubenfeld outlined the effort, saying, “In this federal action, Trump will sue District Attorney Bragg and other state actors and ask a federal judge to issue an emergency temporary restraining order blocking Judge Merchant. Judgment.” Until a federal court has had an opportunity to review and rule out the serious constitutional disputes here. “
Rubenfeld expressed concern that criminalizing the former president for “unclear” crimes “would reflect poorly on this country,” and he outlined what he sees as problems surrounding Trump’s case.
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“It’s very bad for this country to pursue a criminal pursuit of a former president of the United States and someone who is now running for president,” he said. “It’s a situation when the person who files the case and the judge who decides the case are members of the opposing political party. It’s especially bad when the crime is so unclear that the state conceals the actual charges “throughout and even into the trial.”
On May 29, 2024, former President Trump and his lawyers held court in Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City. (JABIN BOTSFORD/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
“Even now, we don’t know exactly what the jury convicted Trump of,” Rubenfeld added.
Rubenfeld said those who commit criminal acts against members of the opposing political party, in this case Trump, “the leading candidate in the polls,” then they “better have something.”
“You better not pursue some fancy legal theory, you have to hide the ball [and] “It’s not even clear what the charges are. This could be a very dangerous precedent for this country,” he said. “This is a very bad and dangerous precedent.”
“That is why it is so important for a federal court to review the constitutionality of this prosecution and decide whether it is constitutional,” he added. “The only way to accomplish this before the election is for the Trump team to file suit in federal court asking the federal court to temporarily delay the conviction until a federal court, and perhaps the Supreme Court itself, can rule on an emergency basis that these constitutional arguments succeed. possibility.
If that doesn’t happen, Rubenfeld said, “that danger of ‘irreparable harm’ that I mentioned earlier, that’s what we’re facing now.”
Trump is scheduled to be sentenced and potentially sent to prison on July 11, just days before the Republican National Convention is scheduled to take place in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Associated Press)
“But if it does happen, the country may get a ruling from a federal court or even the U.S. Supreme Court before the election,” he said. “Maybe that’s what the country needs, maybe that’s what the law requires.”
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A jury in a Manhattan trial last week found Trump guilty of all 34 counts of falsifying business records related to hush-money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels before the 2016 presidential election.
Trump is scheduled to be sentenced and potentially sent to prison on July 11, just days before the Republican National Convention is scheduled to take place in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
