Whoever picked up the keys to the White House, this would always be a historic election victory.

TO Kamala Harris Victory would have made her the first female president. donald trump He is the first convicted felon to become POTUS.

In May, Trump He became the first former US president to be criminally convicted.for attempting to cover up a money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels during her 2016 campaign.

He was found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records to commit election fraud. As things stand, he will be sentenced in this case at the end of November.

Trump, who will take office in January, has also been involved in other state and federal criminal cases, as well as civil cases. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him and the alleged prosecutions are politically motivated.

Experts say at least the federal cases are likely to “disappear.”

‘Silent money’ – state case

This is the case relative to Stormy Danielfor which Trump was found guilty of covering up a $130,000 (£99,000) payment from his then-lawyer for her silence before the 2016 election about a sexual encounter she alleges they had a decade earlier.

Trump will be sentenced in New York on November 26 and could face up to four years in prison. His lawyers are now expected to ask Judge Juan Merchán to delay the hearing.

Initially scheduled for July, Judge Merchán has already postponed the sentence twice. This is due in part to a US Supreme Court ruling issued in July, which found that presidents have broad immunity from prosecution for their official acts.

Trump argues that the case should be dismissed based on this, which prosecutors dispute.

Electoral subversion – federal case

Donald Trump is also accused of trying to reverse his defeat in the 2020 election, which he lost to Joe Biden.

He has pleaded not guilty to criminal charges accusing him of conspiracy to obstruct the process of collecting and certifying results.

He was accused of using “dishonesty, fraud and deception” and spreading “widespread and destabilizing lies about election fraud.”

Once again, this case has been slowed by the US Supreme Court’s ruling on presidents and immunity.

Electoral interference – state case

Trump was formally booked into the Fulton County Jail in Georgia in August 2023. accused of an alleged conspiracy to reverse his defeat specifically in the battleground state in the 2020 elections.

While there, his mugshot and fingerprints were taken before he was released on bail. Speaking to the media afterwards, he said: “What has happened here is a travesty of justice. We did nothing wrong. I did nothing wrong and everyone knows it. I have never had such support.”

The election result in Georgia was memorably close, prompting two recounts, but Biden ultimately won by 11,779 votes, or 0.23% of the five million cast.

It was certified by both Georgia Republican Governor Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. But Trump did not accept the result.

Prosecutors used the state’s racketeering laws, developed to combat organized crime, to charge him and others, including his former attorney Rudy Giuliani.

Trump and eight of his 14 co-defendants in the case are appealing. They seek to disqualify the lead prosecutor, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, for alleged misconduct.

Misuse of classified documents – federal case

Trump had also faced charges over classified documents he allegedly took from the White House, including deleting CCTV footage of his staff moving boxes in his Florida home.

However, a judge dismissed this case against him on July 15.

Some of the documents contained details about U.S. nuclear weapons programs, potential vulnerabilities of the nation and its allies and plans for retaliatory military strikes, according to the federal indictment.

Prosecutors are appealing.

Civil cases

He is also appealing several civil claims totaling more than $500 million (around £388 million), which are unlikely to be affected by his victory.

These include a civil fraud case in New York State, and cases presented by the writer E Jean Carrollwho sued him for allegedly sexually assaulting her in the 1990s and defaming her while he was president for the first time.

The appeals court is expected to rule first in the sexual assault case, with a ruling expected to come any day now, according to NBC.

Trump also faces eight pending civil lawsuits related to the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, following his claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election.

No trial date has been set, but with appeals, its determination could take months or even longer, NBC reports.

So what happens now?

Experts They say his election victory will essentially end the criminal cases brought against him, at least for as long as he occupies the White House.

He had previously said that if he were president again, he would fire US special counsel Jack Smith, who led the federal prosecutions – “within two seconds” of being sworn in.

While he will have the authority to fire Mr. Smith and close federal cases, he will not have the same control over state cases in New York and Georgia.

However, being president of the United States is a unique position and means that he is unlikely to face legal consequences in either case during his term.

Does that mean it’s free?

Sky News US correspondent James Matthews says this is a possibility, although he adds that the two state cases “are more complicated”.

As president, Trump would have the power to “appoint officials of his choice to the Justice Department,” Matthews added, and it is “probably fair to say that his report would include dropping the two federal cases.”

Can Trump forgive himself?

This is also a possibility, Matthews said. It is within the power of the president, although self-pardon has never been legally tested.

The question of pardon does not apply in state cases; However, the Supreme Court ruling weakens the conviction and prosecution.

“Nor can evidence of official acts be used as evidence to support the prosecution of a crime committed out of office,” Matthews said.

“In both the New York appeal and the Georgia case, Trump’s lawyers can be expected to point to the evidence used to convict him (phone calls and behavior while serving as president) and claim that it relates to official acts and , according to the ruling of the Supreme Court, should be declared inadmissible.”

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Danny Cevallos, a legal analyst at Sky News’ U.S. partner NBC, said he could say with “a lot of confidence” that the federal cases “are going to go away.”

Trump could appoint an attorney general “who will simply do his bidding and dismiss the case,” he said, or he could order the justice department “not to even bother with the appeal of the already dismissed federal case. Those cases are, for example, all the effects, disappeared”.

Next, the secret money case. Even if the sentence is handed down on Nov. 26, “in all likelihood, it’s not a case where he’s going to go to prison,” Cevallos said, due to a number of factors.

He added: “You have someone over 75 years old, without weapons, without drugs, without violence… on the spectrum of criminals who could get a sentence of probation or house arrest, Donald Trump has a high probability.” “Even if the case moves forward this month for sentencing, it may not happen.”

Finally, the case in Georgia is “stuck in an appeal,” Cevallos said.

“In all likelihood, those cases will be stayed. And four years from now, who knows what the political situation will be in Fulton County, Georgia.”

Fulton County “is not good for quick trials in complex cases,” he added, so “the Donald Trump case may never see the light of day in Georgia.”