Here's what could happen to Trump's legal cases after the 2024 campaign

It's not just the presidency that is at stake for Donald Trump on November 5th – the outcome of his various legal problems also depends on the election.

A victory in the election, which he calls “the most important” in the country's history, would likely result in the dismissal of federal criminal cases against him, with state criminal cases potentially frozen until he leaves office the various pending civil cases further delay proceedings against him.

However, a loss to Vice President Kamala Harris could lead to Trump potentially being sentenced to prison later this month for his criminal conviction in New York and in 2025, possibly further criminal proceedings in the near future, while he is already appealing civil verdicts in filed a $500 million lawsuit against him.

“When you're president, you have a lot more arrows in your quiver,” said NBC News legal analyst Chuck Rosenberg.

Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung predicted Trump would prevail at the ballot box and said all cases should be dismissed. The “witch hunts against President Trump have imploded” and “should all stop in light of the Supreme Court's historic decision on immunity and other important case law,” Cheung said in a statement.

Here's a look at where the legal battles against the Republican presidential nominee currently stand and how they could be affected – or not – by a Trump win or loss.

Hush money case

Win or lose, Trump's biggest immediate challenge after the election is his potential conviction on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in New York. His sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 26 — three weeks after Election Day.

New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan has postponed the proceedings twice to give Trump and his lawyers more time to argue that the Supreme Court's July ruling on the scope of presidential immunity should result in overturning the conviction . They also want the charges against Trump either to be dropped or for him to be given a new trial that will omit evidence that they say should not have been admitted given the Supreme Court's ruling.

Merchan is expected to decide on this application by November 12th. Trump's lawyers are expected to immediately appeal if he rules against their client.

If the verdict goes through, Merchan could potentially sentence Trump to prison, which would also be immediately appealed. Rosenberg told NBC News in May after Trump's sentencing that a prison sentence was unlikely but possible considering the former president spent much of the trial insulting the judge and defying his silence order.

An election victory would give Trump additional ground for an appeal to prevent a prison sentence; His lawyers have argued in another case that the Constitution prohibits restricting the president in the exercise of his official duties.

Case of interference in the federal election

If Trump loses, there is also a risk that special prosecutor Jack Smith will be charged with election interference.

The case charging Trump with conspiracy to defraud the United States over illegal attempts to falsify the 2020 election results was originally scheduled to go to trial earlier this year but was put on hold for several months while Trump's Supreme Court appeals weighed arguments, most of which he rejected. Because of presidential immunity, he is protected from allegations of wrongdoing.

Prosecutors are expected to continue pushing the case even if Trump is elected in November. However, it is likely that whoever Trump appoints to head the Justice Department will fire Smith and scuttle the case.

In an interview last week with radio host Hugh Hewitt, Trump hinted that he might not wait for his new AG. “I would fire him in two seconds,” Trump said, referring to Smith.

Even if Smith were out of the picture, the Justice Department would still have to take action to get the judge to dismiss the case — a request that judges don't always necessarily grant.

Georgia election interference case

The sprawling case charging Trump and more than a dozen others with illegally conspiring to overturn the 2020 election results is on hold until December, while an appeals court weighs whether to appoint Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and her office in the case may continue to be employed.

If this is the case, it could result in the long-stalled case moving forward. Trump's defeat could clear the way for Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee to set a trial date for the case. However, if Trump loses, he will likely still appeal the case Willis filed against him in 2023, which could cause further delays.

Removing Willis and her office from the case would also cause additional delays. The search for another prosecutor can be lengthy; It took nearly two years to make a name in another case involving Willis.

If Trump wins the election, these delays could last even longer. At a court hearing in December last year, McAfee asked Trump lawyer Steve Sadow when his client could stand trial if elected.

“The answer to that is that I believe that process would not occur until after his term in office had expired because of the Supremacy Clause and his duties as President of the United States,” Sadow responded.

Barbara McQuade, a legal analyst for NBC News and a former federal prosecutor, said she believes it is possible that both state criminal cases would be suspended during Trump's term and “resumed after his term expires.”

Classified information case

In July, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the criminal case, accusing Trump of lying and plotting to trick federal investigators into keeping classified classified materials after he left the White House. She found that Smith's appointment as special counsel was unlawful.

Smith is appealing the decision, arguing that there is ample precedent for his appointment and that the case should move forward.

As in the case of the federal election, Smith's office is expected to continue on appeal as usual even if Trump is elected, although the special counsel's office would likely be quickly closed and the appeal dropped.

E. Jean Carroll appeals

Cases unlikely to be affected by a Trump win or loss include his pending appeals of civil judgments against him totaling more than $500 million.

The former president is appealing the top award — more than $478 million and growing at more than $111,000 a day — in a civil fraud case in New York state court. During arguments before the state's Appellate Division, three members of the five-judge panel said they thought the award was too high.

A lawyer for the attorney general's office argued that the award was appropriate because the scope of the fraud for which Trump and his company were found responsible was significant and continued over a long period of time.

It is unclear when the panel will decide.

Trump is also appealing two jury awards totaling about $88 million that he must pay to writer E. Jean Carroll.

Carroll filed two lawsuits against Trump, one alleging sexual harassment and defamation in the 1990s and another alleging defamation during his term as president.

The appeals court is expected to rule on the sexual assault case first, and that decision could come at any time.

January 6th Suits

Trump faces eight pending civil lawsuits related to his role in the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, including by injured police officers. Similar to the criminal cases, Trump has argued that his actions are protected by presidential immunity.

A federal appeals court allowed the cases to proceed last year after the plaintiffs argued that Trump's actions were not official acts of the president because he was acting as a candidate for office.

Trump, they noted, would have the opportunity to change that stance as the case progresses.

No trial date has been set for the cases, and because appeals are open, it could take months or longer to resolve the issue of immunity.

If Trump wins, the trial could drag on even longer as he could try to involve the Justice Department in his defense. He could also try to delay trials in those cases by arguing that they should take place after his criminal trial in Georgia because they cover similar issues and could affect his right against self-incrimination.

“Civil cases are often stayed for this reason,” McQuade said.

Suit “Relieved 5”.

Trump is facing another defamation lawsuit this month filed against him by members of the so-called Central Park Five, now calling themselves the “Exonerated Five.”

During the presidential debate last month, Trump falsely said that the men, who are black and Latino, had pleaded guilty in a criminal case in which they were accused of attacking and raping a white woman while jogging in New York's Central Park in 1989 to have said they “ultimately killed a person,” even though the woman was still alive.

The five, who were teenagers at the time of their convictions, said they were coerced into confessions by police and pleaded not guilty to the charges. They were convicted in court and served long prison sentences while maintaining their innocence.

They were exonerated in 2002 after a review by prosecutors found DNA evidence that showed the jogger had been attacked by a serial rapist who confessed to the crime after the statute of limitations had expired.

That lawsuit is not expected to be affected by Trump's election because the Supreme Court ruled during the Clinton years that presidents are not immune from civil lawsuits unrelated to their time in office.

McQuade said she believes the case “could continue like Paula Jones v. Bill Clinton.”