Love affair could increase his chances of becoming president

Columnists 

 

Donald Trump  

 

Trump's delaying tactics appear to be succeeding  

 

Wolfgang Hansson  

 

This is a commenting text. Analysis and positions are the writer's.  

 

Published 2024-02-05 21.52  

 

Trump has many charges against him - at the same time that he has to carry out an election campaign. Photo: Andrew Harnik/AP 

 

One of the most important trials against Donald Trump is postponed. Another is in limbo due to the prosecutor's love affairs. 

 

It looks like the ex-president is about to succeed in his tactic of delaying the legal processes so that no verdict can be handed down before the presidential election.  

 

If he wins, he can have the charges dropped.

   

Most things are going Donald Trump's way right now. He is fast approaching the Republican presidential nomination this fall, and his delaying tactics in the legal disputes appear to be paying off.  

 

The trial in which Trump stands accused of trying to change the results of the presidential election was supposed to start on March 4. Last Friday, the judge in the case decided to postpone it indefinitely.  

 

A new date can only be set when the judiciary decides whether Donald Trump has total immunity for everything he did during his time as president. Trump is testing how far he can go. Few believe he will be right, but Trump is testing the legal system to its breaking point.  

 

The issue is currently with an appeals court, but regardless of what their verdict is, you can be pretty sure that the verdict will be appealed to the Supreme Court.  

 

If HD chooses not to take up the case, the process can quickly start again. If they take up the case, it can drag on.  

 

A complicating factor is that Trump has so many indictments against him at the same time that he has to carry out an election campaign. The trials must be timed so that Trump has a reasonable opportunity to participate in the legal proceedings and at the same time campaign.  

 

The indictment in New York accusing him of paying for the silence of porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election now appears to be the first in line. That charge is perhaps the least dangerous for Trump. A preliminary trial date is set for March 25.  

 

If it goes ahead as planned, the trial for the attempts to change the election results will have to be postponed further into the future.  

 

Trump can also see some lightening in the indictment that could cause the most problems for him. It is about how he tried to change the election results in the state of Georgia, which was won by Joe Biden, but where Trump, in a phone call to the state's election officer, requested that he "find" enough votes for Trump to be declared the winner.  

 

Because it is a state indictment, Trump obviously cannot pardon himself even if he were to be elected president in November. 

 

Prosecutor Fani Willis. Photo: John Bazemore/AP  

 

But now prosecutor Fani Willis' love affairs risk delaying or completely stopping the prosecution.

 

Following accusations from one of Trump's total of 18 former associates who are also defendants in the case, it has emerged that Willis has an affair with another prosecutor in the case whom she herself hired.

 

After a long silence, Willis admitted the other day that the two had an affair. It is unclear if it is still ongoing.  

 

Trump's lawyers are demanding that Willis be removed from the case. Alternatively, that the prosecution be dropped entirely. They claim that Willis received financial gain from hiring Nathan Wade, whose law firm has so far billed the state 6.5 million kroner for work performed since he got the job in November 2021. Wade is said to have paid for expensive luxury trips for Willis. Something she denies.  

 

Now a judge in Georgia will decide whether Willis must answer questions in a court hearing on February 15. She has requested that the hearing be canceled because she believes there is nothing inappropriate in her relationship with Wade.  

 

But the judge can decide to take her off the case. In that case, a whole new prosecution team would have to take over, which would mean a considerable delay. It is likely that the trial, which was previously scheduled for August, would not even start before the November 5 presidential election.  

 

The practice is that a sitting president is not prosecuted unless it is about impeachment, which is handled by Congress and not the judiciary.  

 

So even if Trump cannot pardon himself in the Georgia case, a trial in that case would be held only after he leaves the White House.  

 

The delay tactic could be the difference between winning and losing for Trump.  

 

Polls show that even a sizable group of Republican voters would hesitate to vote for a president convicted of serious crimes. 

 

If Trump manages to avoid a conviction before the presidential election, his chances of victory increase.  

Many American observers are critical of Trump's tactics and demand that the legal processes be speeded up. They believe that voters have the right to know before election day if Trump is guilty of a crime. Especially if it is about something as serious as trying to cheat victory in a presidential election.  

 

It would be an irony of fate if a prosecutor's love affair increases Trump's chances of becoming  president again.