# Assume Trump is found guilty of some felony **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [March 9, 2023, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assume-trump-is-found-guilty-of-some-felony/980938 "2023-03-09T17:22:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![slicedalone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slicedalone/32/12515_2.png) [@slicedalone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slicedalone)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2023, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assume-trump-is-found-guilty-of-some-felony/980938/1 "2023-03-09T17:22:43Z")
…which I think is likely, and further assume he is elected President in 2024, which is certainly possible, and further assume that his punishment is some form of home confinement, which is more likely than not, then could the White House grounds simply be defined as his home? A bit further, could not some court (and certainly the SC if they’re asked to rule) expand that “punishment” to include Mar-a-Lago and air force One (and various helicopters) conducting him to and from the White House and Mar-a-Lago? In other words, a punishment that is no punishment at all? ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2023, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assume-trump-is-found-guilty-of-some-felony/980938/2 "2023-03-09T18:18:17Z")
Unless it’s a Federal felony, the terms of where his home confinement would be is up to the judge who sentenced him. The Supreme Court has no jurisdiction. If the sentencing judge says he needs to stay in Mara Lago, or Trump Tower, or a halfway house in Downtown Atlanta. That’s where he needs to stay. If he can’t make it to the inauguration, tough luck. I guess the VP elect takes the oath. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2023, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assume-trump-is-found-guilty-of-some-felony/980938/3 "2023-03-09T18:21:37Z")
Why do you assume he can’t take the oath of office at Mar-A-Lago or wherever he is in this hypothetical? Nothing in the Constitution says he _has_ to be inaugurated in D.C. And of course as soon as he’s inaugurated, he can issue a blanket pardon to himself. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2023, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assume-trump-is-found-guilty-of-some-felony/980938/4 "2023-03-09T18:22:55Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Why do you assume he can’t take the oath of office at Mar-A-Lago or wherever he is in this hypothetical? Nothing in the Constitution says he _has_ to be inaugurated in D.C. That’s a good point. Still no White House or Air Force One or Burger King drive-thru. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2023, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assume-trump-is-found-guilty-of-some-felony/980938/5 "2023-03-09T18:23:26Z")
> And of course as soon as he’s inaugurated, he can issue a blanket pardon to himself. Not if it’s a state conviction. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2023, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assume-trump-is-found-guilty-of-some-felony/980938/6 "2023-03-09T18:30:01Z")
> [@slicedalone](#): > > In other words, a punishment that is no punishment at all? Jeffrey Epstein’s house arrest included shuttling between Manhattan, Palm Beach, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, for what it’s worth. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2023, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assume-trump-is-found-guilty-of-some-felony/980938/7 "2023-03-09T18:44:40Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Nothing in the Constitution says he _has_ to be inaugurated in D.C. Here’s the most famous example of that: > **[File:Lyndon B. Johnson taking the oath of office, November 1963.jpg -...](https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lyndon_B._Johnson_taking_the_oath_of_office,_November_1963.jpg#mw-jump-to-license)** ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2023, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assume-trump-is-found-guilty-of-some-felony/980938/8 "2023-03-09T19:04:54Z")
I’d almost like to see Trump elected if it meant a photo op of Trump opposite a plexiglass partition from Justice Roberts, with one hand raised and the other trying to fondle the bible held by Melania on the visitors side like Billy in _Midnight Express_ ---
**Author:** ![slicedalone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slicedalone/32/12515_2.png) [@slicedalone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slicedalone)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2023, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assume-trump-is-found-guilty-of-some-felony/980938/9 "2023-03-09T19:35:57Z")
The odd thing is I’m quite sure that his supporters would view his serving his term\* as a felon as vindication of their high opinion of him. Zero shame. They’d probably view it as a condemnation of the justice system that he was found guilty, and would revere him all the more for it. \*both prison term and second administration term ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2023, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assume-trump-is-found-guilty-of-some-felony/980938/10 "2023-03-09T19:44:43Z")
> [@slicedalone](#): > > They’d probably view it as a condemnation of the justice system that he was found guilty, and would revere him all the more for it. Oh, no question. Whether he’s re-elected or not (and IMO he has no chance), him serving a prison sentence would be the ultimate validation of MAGAts’ idea of him as a crusader against the entrenched Deep State. They will never never never never never never simply accept that he’s a bad guy who did bad things that deserve punishment. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2023, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assume-trump-is-found-guilty-of-some-felony/980938/11 "2023-03-09T19:45:21Z")
> [@slicedalone](#): > > The odd thing is I’m quite sure that his supporters would view his serving his term\* as a felon as vindication of their high opinion of him. Same reaction if he flees the country (damn easy to do when you’ve got his connections) and becomes The President In Exile. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2023, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assume-trump-is-found-guilty-of-some-felony/980938/12 "2023-03-09T20:33:59Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > Burger King drive-thru. “That drive-thru had the biggest crowd in history, I’m telling you.” I think it’s worth pointing out that some of the crimes he is suspected of could potentially make him ineligible to serve any office if convicted. Seditious conspiracy and espionage in particular. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2023, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assume-trump-is-found-guilty-of-some-felony/980938/13 "2023-03-09T20:36:24Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > I think it’s worth pointing out that some of the crimes he is suspected of could potentially make him ineligible to serve any office if convicted. Seditious conspiracy and espionage in particular. The only qualifications for President involve residency and age. ---
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2023, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assume-trump-is-found-guilty-of-some-felony/980938/14 "2023-03-09T20:40:08Z")
I recall a simpler time, when his presidency started with the simple lie that he had the biggest inauguration in history. Ahh, I long for those days when that was the biggest issue of the Trump presidency yet (even if that was only like 1 hour into the presidency). How did we get to “now if president is a convicted felon…”? ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2023, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assume-trump-is-found-guilty-of-some-felony/980938/15 "2023-03-09T20:43:52Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > The only qualifications for President involve residency and age. You’re missing **dis** qualifications. Section 3 of the 14th Amendment: > No Person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, > having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or > as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support > the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the > same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of > each House, remove such disability. He could also potentially be barred from office if found guilty of unauthorized removal of documents, but that seems like a weaker case. See this article: > **[If Trump illegally removed official records, would he be barred from future...](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/09/us/politics/trump-fbi-investigation.html)** > > The F.B.I.’s search of the former president’s Florida residence has drawn attention to a crime whose penalties include disqualification from future office — and the prospect of a fight over its constitutionality. A federal statute like [18 U.S. Code § 2071](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/2071) is much less likely to be a bar to his presidency than the 14th Amendment, which is part of the same US Constitution that gives the qualifications for being POTUS. ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2023, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assume-trump-is-found-guilty-of-some-felony/980938/16 "2023-03-09T21:02:55Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > You’re missing **dis** qualifications. Do you really think the GOP, assuming they control Congress\*, would let a pesky constitutional amendment keep them from swearing in their guy? “It says ‘insurrection or rebellion,’ not ‘seditious conspiracy’!” Who’s going to stop them, the (_must recover from laughing fit_) Roberts SCOTUS? (\*It’s hard to imagine that if Trump wins in '24, the Pubs somehow lose Congress.) ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2023, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assume-trump-is-found-guilty-of-some-felony/980938/17 "2023-03-09T21:10:59Z")
> [@Akaj](#): > > Do you really think the GOP, assuming they control Congress\*, would let a pesky constitutional amendment keep them from swearing in their guy? I don’t think that the GOP will control **2/3 of both houses of Congress** , no. If they do we’re screwed anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2023, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assume-trump-is-found-guilty-of-some-felony/980938/18 "2023-03-09T21:16:09Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > I don’t think that the GOP will control **2/3 of both houses of Congress** That’s not the point. It’s not about them following the letter of the 14th – it’s about them completely ignoring it. If Trump wins the election, who’s going to stand up and deny his eligibility for the White House? A GOP-controlled Congress? The GOP-controlled SCOTUS? The military? Or none of the above, and we can all dry our liberal tears with copies of the Constitution. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2023, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assume-trump-is-found-guilty-of-some-felony/980938/19 "2023-03-09T21:57:14Z")
> [@Akaj](#): > > The GOP-controlled SCOTUS? The same SCOTUS that repeatedly refused to hear election fraud claims on Trump’s behalf? You really think that group is going to put themselves out for him? If anything, recent history suggests that SCOTUS has a grudge against Trump. ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2023, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assume-trump-is-found-guilty-of-some-felony/980938/20 "2023-03-09T22:11:43Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > The same SCOTUS that repeatedly refused to hear election fraud claims on Trump’s behalf? That was because he lost. If he won in '24 it would be Democrats trying to have him ruled ineligible, and I can absolutely see this SCOTUS drawing a BS distinction between “insurrection or rebellion” and “seditious conspiracy.” But hey, if Trump wins _at all_, it would reflect some dire goings-on in this country. If he wins despite serving a sentence for a felony conviction, we’ll know it’s over anyway, whether he actually gets to be president or not. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assume-trump-is-found-guilty-of-some-felony/980938.md?page=2)