Trump’s New York felony conviction can’t keep him from becoming president

Former President Trump New York felony conviction Thursday on 34 counts of falsifying business records related to a payment of “silent money” for adult film star Stormy Daniels can’t stop him from becoming president If voters put him back in office, legal experts seem to agree.

The Constitution imposes very few prerequisites for the presidency – a candidate must be at least 35 years old, a natural-born citizen, and a US resident for at least 14 years. It says nothing about the impact of a felony conviction on a president’s ability to serve.

“The short answer is yes, there is no constitutional barrier,” said Corey Brettschneider, a lawyer and professor of political science at Brown University and author of “The Presidents and the People.” “The Constitution sets out some specific requirements of what is required… but there is nothing explicitly in the Constitution about being convicted of a crime as a disqualification.”

“There is a broad understanding that the qualifications listed in the Constitution are exclusive — that is, we cannot add anything to those qualifications,” said Derek Muller, a professor of election law at the University of Notre Dame. He added: “Whether or not you have been convicted of a crime is irrelevant for qualification purposes.”

Jessica Levinson, a professor of constitutional law at Loyola University and a CBS News contributor, stated clearly: “The Constitution does not prohibit holding office as president if you are a convicted felon.”

What about the 14th Amendment?

Some states attempted to disqualify Trump under the 14th Amendment’s insurrection clause following the January 6, 2021 crisis, Attack on the US Capitol.

Last December, the Colorado Supreme Court allowed Trump will be removed from the primary ballot because of 14th Amendment concerns due to his conduct around January 6th. The amendment’s insurrection clause, the court concluded, prohibits rebels who have already sworn an oath to support the Constitution from holding public office.

But the The US Supreme Court reversed the decision in March, concluding that Trump had to be returned to the polls because only Congress can enforce the insurrection clause. The high court ruling resolved challenges to Trump’s eligibility for office brought by voters in several other states.

“Absent a [new] statute that establishes this disqualification, is not a barrier,'” Brettschneider said.

The Constitution gives Congress the power to enact laws that would enforce the 3rd section of the 14th Amendment, Brettschneider explained.

What if Trump is sentenced to prison?

Your sentence may not include prison timeBut in practice, the implications of a sentence could be more complex if Trump becomes president.

“You could be convicted of a crime and still not get jail time, right?” said Müller. “You could just get a fine; you could get probation.”

But there is no law against running for president and winning elections while in prison – or serving as president while in prison.

If he is sentenced to prison and wins the election, Trump’s lawyers could argue that sitting presidents cannot be arrested, just as Trump argued that sitting presidents cannot be indicted.

“We could say that there is something inherent in the office of president that suggests that states cannot incarcerate people who hold federal positions or detain those federal employees,” Muller said. “There’s some precedent on this. In some old cases going back 200 years, there were some disputes about states trying to take cases involving federal officials to remove them from office, and the Supreme Court has made it clear that states don’t have the authority to do that.”

What about the 25th Amendment?

The 25th Amendment could be a factor, Muller and Levinson said.

Section 3 of the 25th Amendment says that “whenever the vice president and a majority of the principal officers of the executive departments, or of any other body that Congress may by law establish, transmit to the president pro tempore of the Senate and the president of the Senate the House of Representatives its written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.”

It could be argued that a president who is behind bars is incapable of doing his job, Muller said. Whether a convicted president serving time behind bars could be confirmed in office could largely depend on the outcome of the Senate elections, said Brandon Johnson, an assistant professor at the Nebraska College of Law who wrote an essay in the Harvard Law Review last year on the topic of a “inmate-in-chief.” And if Trump were able to confirm a Cabinet, those members would likely be loyal to him and unwilling to supplant him.

The 25th Amendment also says that “such other body as Congress may by law provide” could kickstart the transmission of presidential powers to the vice president, Johnson wrote.

“I think Congress’ path will also be virtually impossible unless there is a significant change in the 2024 elections, because Congress would have to agree to establish this body to begin evaluating the president’s fitness for office,” Johnson said. CBS News.

Johnson argues that the most natural reading of the 25th Amendment would seem to require the cooperation of the vice president.

“But if the vice president’s acquiescence is required, then the creation of a congressional body to declare the president unable to perform his duties could face the same obstacles,” Johnson wrote.

Could Trump pardon himself for the New York conviction?

Trump, if he becomes president, cannot pardon himself from the New York conviction because it is a state conviction, not a federal one. Presidents only have the power to pardon federal crimes.

Trump faces three more criminal cases — a state indictment in Georgia for alleged attempts to overturn the elections; a federal indictment in Florida for handling confidential documents; and a federal indictment in Washington, D.C., over alleged efforts to overturn the presidential election.

–Melissa Quinn contributed to this report.