Former President Donald Trump is currently facing four criminal cases, but the most significant verdict regarding his legal future may be delivered on Election Day, Tuesday.
If he wins, all of his charges could be dropped or delayed for at least four years. However, if he loses, he could face swift sentencing in one case and trials in the other three.
If Trump were not a candidate for president, he would likely confront his legal troubles without any reprieve. He is scheduled to be sentenced on November 26 for 34 felony counts in his New York hush money case.
Two trials are pending: one in federal court in Washington, D.C., and the other in Georgia state court, both related to charges that he attempted to overturn the 2020 election results.
In Florida, a federal judge appointed by Trump dismissed charges alleging that he mishandled classified documents after leaving the White House.
But that reprieve could be temporary, as prosecutors appealed the decision.
Being elected president would give Trump an out because legal experts say serious action in the New York and Georgia cases would likely be postponed until after he serves his four-year term.
Trump has said he would fire Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith in the two federal cases, and he could also try to pardon himself.
But if Trump loses, all of his cases can move forward − assuming that he doesn’t succeed in his various legal gambits to delay and derail them, including his argument that he is protected by the Supreme Court’s July ruling creating expansive presidential immunity from criminal charges.
READ MORE FROM: NIGERIAN TRIBUNE