A former federal prosecutor suggested there’s a possibility that former President Donald Trump could reportedly face imprisonment for the remainder of his life should he lose the 2024 election, citing the multitude and seriousness of criminal charges against him.
Harry Litman, who served as a U.S. attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania during the Bill Clinton administration, shared his thoughts during a conversation with former Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) on the latter’s podcast this week.
“If he doesn’t win, he has an appreciable chance of dying in prison,” Litman said. “The whole timeline, the whole crisis point of November goes away. So, if he doesn’t win on [November] the fifth, those cases lie ready to bring.”
Litman suggested that if Trump were to win the election, the former president could use his influence over the Department of Justice to dismiss the two criminal cases against him and leverage the presidency’s powers to evade prosecution in the 2020 election case in Georgia.
Trump was found guilty of 34 felony counts related to business fraud in his New York hush-money case. While he has appealed the conviction, his sentencing is set for July. He faces a potential prison term of up to four years for these charges.
Litman forecasted that Judge Juan Merchan could impose a brief prison term on Trump for the business fraud charges, though Trump may not have to serve it immediately due to pending appeals.
Trump also faces three other significant legal challenges: a federal prosecution in Washington, D.C., for election fraud and his actions related to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots; a federal case in Florida for mishandling classified documents and obstructing government efforts to recover them; and a Georgia state case concerning attempts to overturn the 2020 election results.
The cases in Florida and Georgia have been postponed indefinitely, while the D.C. case is on hold as the Supreme Court deliberates on Trump’s request for immunity.
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