Trump's victory in the presidential election all but ends his federal criminal cases

With his election victory, Donald Trump will have the power to get rid of half of his criminal cases when he returns to the White House – particularly the two federal cases brought by special counsel Jack Smith over alleged subversion of the 2020 election, alleged illegal hoarding of classified documents and obstruction. The president-elect has pleaded not guilty in all four of his criminal cases, but his guilt in these two cases is unlikely to be decided one way or the other.

NBC News reported Wednesday that before Trump took office, Justice Department officials were “considering how to dismiss the two federal criminal cases” “to comply with the department's longstanding policy that a sitting president cannot be prosecuted.”

Presidents cannot pardon or dismiss state cases, although we do not expect Trump to face federal cases in New York or Georgia during his term. When the judge presiding over the Georgia case asked Trump's lawyer last year whether he could try the case if Trump became president again, the lawyer said he believed a trial would be necessary because of the Constitution's supremacy clause and Trump's duties as president could only take place after he resigned from office.

In his New York hush money case, Trump is scheduled to be sentenced on November 26th – that is, if Judge Juan Merchan on November 12th rejects Trump's request to vacate his convictions based on the Supreme Court's immunity decision. Even then, Trump signaled that he would immediately appeal a negative immunity decision. So don't assume that the conviction – for falsifying business records in connection with Stormy Daniels' cover-up in connection with the 2016 election – will go as planned. In any case, imprisonment is not mandatory in this case and a sitting president is not imprisoned.

In Georgia, this multi-defendant case is already pending a pretrial appeal of the defense's attempt to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. Whatever happens in this case, in which Trump is also charged with 2020 election interference, don't expect him to appear in federal criminal court as president, even if it only gets the case delayed rather than dismissed.

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