Donald Trump Can Stop All His Trials in One Fell Swoop

Donald Trump may be able to halt all his criminal and civil trials if elected president, a legal expert has said.

Paul Golden, a partner at New York law firm Coffey Modica, told Newsweek that the Supreme Court has left a pathway open for a president to claim that court proceedings would interfere with his work. In addition, the Justice Department has concluded that criminal trials against a sitting president would be unconstitutional, Golden added.

Trump, frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, faces a total of 91 felony charges in four separate criminal cases. The former president has pleaded not guilty to all charges, claiming to be the victim of political "persecution" and "election interference." He is also involved in several civil lawsuits in which he denies wrongdoing.

In 1997, then Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer suggested presidents may be able to halt civil lawsuits if they claim that it interferes with their work. That was in the landmark decision in a sexual harassment case taken by Arkansas state worker, Paula Jones, against the then president, Bill Clinton.

"In a concurring opinion, Breyer noted that if the President could set forth and explain a conflict between a judicial proceeding and his or her ability to perform public duties, the President might be entitled to a postponement," Golden said.

In his decision, Breyer said that the Constitution does not automatically grant the president immunity from civil lawsuits based upon his private conduct. However, Breyer added "once the President sets forth and explains a conflict between judicial proceedings and public duties, the matter changes."

"At that point, the Constitution permits a judge to schedule a trial in an ordinary civil damages action...only within the constraints of a constitutional principle—a principle that forbids a federal judge in such a case to interfere with the President's discharge of his public duties."

Golden said this principle could be applied to both civil and criminal trials.

"One of many strategies a sitting president could use, therefore, would be to file a motion in the context of the state case, arguing that allowing a criminal case to continue would affect the president's ability to run the country. But there are a host of other potential strategies available as well."

Golden said that the Justice Department has concluded that it would be unconstitutional to take a federal criminal case against a sitting president, but legal opinion is divided.

"It is unclear how the criminal trial would be handled if, in the middle of the trial, Mr. Trump were re-elected president. Although the Department of Justice has concluded that criminal prosecution of a sitting president would be unconstitutional, its memos on the topic do not have the force of law until and unless a court adopts them. Even then, one court might not be bound by another court," Golden noted.

Newsweek sought email comment on Wednesday morning from Trump's attorney.

The former president is currently embroiled in numerous criminal and civil cases. He is trying to delay two federal trials—one for allegedly hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, the other for allegedly tampering with the 2020 presidential election result.

He is also facing a separate 2020 election tampering case in Georgia and a fourth criminal case in New York over alleged hush money payments to adult film actress, Stormy Daniels. He is also facing a defamation lawsuit by retired New York journalist E. Jean Carroll.

A jury previously awarded Carroll $5 million against Trump for sexual assault and defamation and she is suing him again for comments made after that jury award. In addition, he is currently on trial in the New York attorney general's lawsuit against him for fraudulent asset evaluations.

Last month, a Trump lawyer was allowed to phone in to one of Trump's classified documents pre-trial hearings because he was also representing Trump in the New York attorney general's case on the same day.

His attorneys have unsuccessfully sought postponement in both of Trump's trials until after the 2024 presidential election because of their work schedule.