# 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:** 2
**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, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assume-trump-is-found-guilty-of-some-felony/980938/21 "2023-03-09T22:35:29Z")
> [@Akaj](#): > > 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. LOL, I guess we’re kind of arguing over how bad Armageddon might be. ---
**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, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assume-trump-is-found-guilty-of-some-felony/980938/22 "2023-03-09T22:57:25Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > I guess we’re kind of arguing over how bad Armageddon might be. Yeah, let’s stop before it spoils my appetite. 🤮 ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2023, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assume-trump-is-found-guilty-of-some-felony/980938/23 "2023-03-10T14:05:05Z")
I hope DJT loses the election, but if he is nominated and wins in November of next year, the will of the voters – that he serve as President normally – should and will be respected. Remember that, even if convicted, something much less likely than is stated in the OP, there would be appeals. Recently posted at [NewYorkTimes.com](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/09/nyregion/trump-potential-criminal-charges-bragg.html): > [@](#): > > The case against the former president hinges on an untested and therefore risky legal theory involving a complex interplay of laws, all amounting to a low-level felony. If Mr. Trump were ultimately convicted, he would face a maximum sentence of four years, though prison time would not be mandatory. It looks like this New York case will come in first, and, if so, others will be delayed. This isn’t so bad for those who dream of Trump being convicted, because I can’t see getting a unanimous jury verdict against him elsewhere. If and when Trump gets a suspended sentence in New York, there are going to be some unhappy folks here. My general view is that the value of punishment is highly overrated. ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2023, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assume-trump-is-found-guilty-of-some-felony/980938/24 "2023-03-10T14:14:52Z")
Concerning running for President while imprisoned, there is actually precedent. Eugene Debs got nearly a million votes a century ago. [Eugene V. Debs - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_V._Debs#:~:text=Debs%20ran%20for%20president%20in,candidate%20in%20the%20United%20States.) ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2023, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assume-trump-is-found-guilty-of-some-felony/980938/25 "2023-03-10T22:01:42Z")
Suppose Trump was convicted in New York and taken into custody; if he still managed to be reelected would NYS be obliged to release him or would his VP have to act as President? Or some bizarre 3rd option were Trump is allowed to run the country from Sing Sing? ---
**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 10, 2023, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assume-trump-is-found-guilty-of-some-felony/980938/26 "2023-03-10T22:56:23Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > Suppose Trump was convicted in New York and taken into custody; if he still managed to be reelected would NYS be obliged to release him or would his VP have to act as President? Just as the POTUS can’t pardon state crimes, I don’t think a state is required to release any convicted politician because their job is too important. I would expect an invocation of the 25th amendment, declaring “that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office” from prison, and the VP would take office. Because there is absolutely no way that the POTUS can do their job while incarcerated. ---
**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 10, 2023, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assume-trump-is-found-guilty-of-some-felony/980938/27 "2023-03-10T23:07:37Z")
And Trump would absolutely assent to this use of the 25th amendment, so there would be no drawn-out case lasting months if not years while this question is being settled in the courts. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2023, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assume-trump-is-found-guilty-of-some-felony/980938/28 "2023-03-10T23:49:19Z")
Trump could likely make a Supremacy Clause argument that his confinement by a state conflicts with the exercise of his Constitutional and statutory responsibilities as President. ---
**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 11, 2023, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assume-trump-is-found-guilty-of-some-felony/980938/29 "2023-03-11T01:00:13Z")
I’m sure that would work out exactly as well as all of his Executive Privilege claims did in regards to his theft and hiding of government documents. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2023, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assume-trump-is-found-guilty-of-some-felony/980938/30 "2023-03-11T01:04:26Z")
> [@flurb](#): > > Trump could likely make a Supremacy Clause argument that his confinement by a state conflicts with the exercise of his Constitutional and statutory responsibilities as President. I don’t think it would come down to this, because relevant authorities would respect the will of the voters. However, yes, in theory, there could be a constitutional crisis where the Supreme Court, in one of its most controversial rulings ever, uses that clause to make a party-line ruling in favor of DJT. One plus for Trump, in the highly unlikely event of his running in the general election from a jail cell, is that it gives him a plausible excuse for not debating. He probably will decline to debate regardless, but refusal due to being in prison will lose him fewer votes than if his excuse is that the moderators are normal mainstream journalists. ---
**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 11, 2023, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assume-trump-is-found-guilty-of-some-felony/980938/31 "2023-03-11T01:17:26Z")
If Trump plays the “I pardon me” card, does he stay behind bars while it is fought in court, or is he a free bird until it gets settled? ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2023, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assume-trump-is-found-guilty-of-some-felony/980938/32 "2023-03-11T01:22:46Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > Suppose Trump was convicted in New York and taken into custody. . . Of course, the custody comes first. DeSantis [has the ability](https://abovethelaw.com/2021/05/florida-preparing-to-florida-up-trump-extradition-if-new-york-indicts/) to stop, or at least seriously slow down, DJT being extradited. Maybe we should start a separate thread on whether DeSantis would be smart to do that, and I hope I didn’t mess up by mentioning it here. ---
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2023, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assume-trump-is-found-guilty-of-some-felony/980938/33 "2023-03-11T01:30:51Z")
Or would it be smarter to give him up (after some token resistance, all the while blaming woke activists for why he cannot save Dear Leader). It might clear Trump off the table for his presidential run. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2023, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assume-trump-is-found-guilty-of-some-felony/980938/34 "2023-03-11T01:40:32Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > > [@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 > > 1. a Senator > 2. or Representative in Congress, > 3. or elector of President and Vice-President, > 4. or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, > 5. who, having previously taken an oath, > 6. as a member of Congress, > 7. or as an officer of the United States, > 8. or as a member of any State legislature, > 9. or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, > 10. to support the Constitution of the United States, > 11. shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, > 12. or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. > > But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability. Breaking down the text of that portion of the Fourteenth Amendment into numbered elements, which elements apply unmistakably, unambiguously, and undebatably to the America-hating fuckstick? ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2023, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assume-trump-is-found-guilty-of-some-felony/980938/35 "2023-03-11T01:52:05Z")
> [@BeepKillBeep](#): > > Or would it be smarter to give him up (after some token resistance, all the while blaming woke activists for why he cannot save Dear Leader). It might clear Trump off the table for his presidential run. Suppose median Republican primary voters think that a party favorite running from jail is a negative. I don’t know that to be true, but let’s say it is. What would people, who enthusiastically voted for Trump, in two general elections, feel about DeSantis after he gave Trump the undocumented immigrant treatment (involuntary transport to New York)? Answer: Disgust. Even if Trump was hurt politically in the primaries by being jailed, DeSantis would be hurt more by failure to stop it. ---
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2023, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assume-trump-is-found-guilty-of-some-felony/980938/36 "2023-03-11T01:53:27Z")
I don’t know. MAGA voters are pretty dumb. If he claims he did his best, but Biden and the ‘Woke’ left forced it through, they might just believe it. This is really all Biden’s fault for ‘reasons’. I do understand what you’re saying and you might very well be correct. It would definitely be a calculated risk. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2023, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assume-trump-is-found-guilty-of-some-felony/980938/37 "2023-03-11T02:41:30Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > You’re missing **dis** qualifications. > > Section 3 of the 14th Amendment: > > . . . 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. From what I read in the papers, Trump, if extradited, is first going to tried for violations related to bribing Stormy Daniels to stay quiet, and then maybe for attempted vote-stealing in Georgia. Federal disloyalty charges are unlikely. But let’s say I’m wrong about that. As bad as red scare America was, and as unfair as it was to jail Eugene Debs for sedition, at least we didn’t stop his supporters from voting for him. That’s something we should be proud of as little-d American democrats. Debs gave speeches, at a time when the U.S. was in a declared war with Germany, urging draft resistance. Did Kaiser Wilhelm read about this and feel aided and comforted? Almost surely. Stopping Americans from voting for a candidate, due to disloyalty, would be a terrible anti-democratic precedent. And taking the constitution literally, a Trump, who failed a loyalty test, could still run – he just couldn’t serve in office. That could result in a President Kari Lake, or maybe President Kevin McCarthy. ---
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2023, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assume-trump-is-found-guilty-of-some-felony/980938/38 "2023-03-11T02:47:13Z")
No chance he’ll face charges in Georgia. The Republicans are seeing to that by passing a law that allows them to replace the county DA, which are elected by the way. The contempt for democracy, while not surprising, is disgusting. > **[Ga. Republicans push for prosecutorial oversight amid Trump election probe](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/03/07/ga-republicans-push-prosecutorial-oversight-amid-trump-election-probe/)** > > Republicans in the Georgia state legislature are considering measures that would make it easier to remove local district attorneys. ---
**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 11, 2023, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assume-trump-is-found-guilty-of-some-felony/980938/39 "2023-03-11T05:01:33Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > Stopping Americans from voting for a candidate, due to disloyalty, would be a terrible anti-democratic precedent. Due to **disloyalty**?! You think that’s the issue? ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2023, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assume-trump-is-found-guilty-of-some-felony/980938/40 "2023-03-18T12:49:44Z")
Am I misreading? On twitter, someone posted a paragraph by Trump on truth social, where he says he will be arrested tuesday and exhorting people to protest? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assume-trump-is-found-guilty-of-some-felony/980938.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assume-trump-is-found-guilty-of-some-felony/980938.md?page=3)