Former President Donald Trump could temporarily sidestep an ongoing Fulton County trial over charges tied to efforts to overturn the 2020 election if he secures victory in the 2024 race, according to his attorney, Steve Sadow. He argued that a postponement could stretch the proceedings until 2029 because the U.S. Constitution restricts states from interfering with federal government functions.
“The Supremacy Clause and his duties as President of the United States mean this hearing cannot occur before the end of his term”, Sadow stated.
As noted by The Guardian, the trial is not ruled out for a late-summer 2024 start, though the exact date remains uncertain several months ahead of the hearings. The publication also reports that Trump’s legal team has acknowledged efforts to remove the candidate from the campaign during a key moment of the race.
In the summer of 2023, Trump faced multiple indictments across several criminal cases, including allegations related to the January 2021 Capitol events, the 2020 election, and the improper storage of classified materials at Mar-a-Lago. The former president has consistently denied all charges, framing the investigations as political persecution by the Biden administration. He has warned allies that the potential penalties could be severe, with figures floated in media coverage as high as hundreds of years in combined terms across the cases.
Earlier statements indicated questions about presidential immunity in the context of actions surrounding the Capitol incident, which have been a point of contention among supporters and detractors alike. The current legal landscape remains unsettled as courts weigh the unique interplay between state criminal processes and federal executive responsibilities.