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Former Federal Prosecutor: ‘Appreciable Chance’ Trump Could Die in Prison if He Loses Reelection Bid
A former federal prosecutor has suggested that there is a significant possibility former President Donald Trump could spend the remainder of his life in prison if he loses the 2024 presidential election, given the number and severity of criminal charges against him.
Harry Litman, who served as a U.S. attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania during the Clinton administration, shared his views on former Senator Al Franken’s (D-Minn.) podcast on Wednesday.
“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 explained that if Trump wins the 2024 election, he would likely use his influence over the Department of Justice to dismiss the two federal criminal cases against him and leverage the power of the presidency to avoid prosecution in Georgia’s state case related to the 2020 election.
Trump has already been convicted of 34 felony business fraud counts in his New York hush money case. He has appealed the conviction and is scheduled to be sentenced in July, facing a potential prison sentence of up to four years.
Litman predicted that Judge Juan Merchan would sentence Trump to a few months in prison for the business fraud charges, though he potentially wouldn’t have to serve the sentence for years, pending appeal.
The other three cases Trump faces include:
- A D.C.-based federal prosecution for election fraud and his actions related to the January 6, 2021, Capitol riots.
- A Florida-based federal case for mishandling classified documents and obstructing the government’s efforts to recover them.
- A Georgia state case over attempts to overturn the 2020 election.
Both the Florida and Georgia cases have been delayed indefinitely, and the D.C. case has been paused while the Supreme Court considers Trump’s bid for immunity.