Former President Donald Trump faces four separate criminal proceedings, all while he attempts to run for re-election to the office in the 2024 election. The two federal and two state cases all carry felony charges and significant jail time. The ballot for voters in the 2024 election may, for the first time, include a presidential candidate indicted on multiple felony charges and, potentially, even a convicted felon.

So, does the 2024 presidential campaign path go through the courtroom? With their leading candidate’s viral mugshot trending on the internet and 91 separate felony charges across multiple jurisdictions, Republican primary voters face a quandary.

Trump retains a massive lead in primary polls, with the indictments positively affecting his poll lead with GOP voters rallying around him.
“I think it’s very interesting how the effect on his campaign has only been positive,” sophomore Patrick Wall said.

In the most recent of the cases, Trump was booked at Fulton County Jail on 13 felony charges of conspiring to overturn the 2020 election in the state of Georgia. These charges consist of falsifying documents, statements, writings, forgery, and impersonating a public offer around the time of the 2020 election. If convicted, these 13 felony counts carry up to 50 years of jail time. The Georgia trial is not currently scheduled.

The first federal charges against Trump relate to his mishandling of classified national security materials in his home at the Mar-a-Lago Club in Florida. The 40 felony counts include various charges connected to endangering the country’s national security. An FBI search of Mar-a-Lago uncovered top-secret documents in an unsecured ballroom, a store room, and a bathroom. The Florida trial is scheduled to begin May 20, 2024.

The second federal charge stems from Trump’s actions to try to reverse the outcome of the 2020 election in The District of Columbia. Trump has four felony counts: a charge of conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of an attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights. It is currently scheduled to start March 4, 2024, in the District of Columbia. It is set to be the first of the Trump felony cases to hit the courtroom.

Lastly, the state case in New York charges consists of 34 felony charges associated with falsifying business records. These charges arise from hush money payments to an adult film star that Trump allegedly paid off to keep their relationship quiet on the eve of the 2020 election.

New York prosecutors allege that these under-the-table payments were taken from campaign contributions that should have been disclosed. Each of these counts averages four years of jail time, with a trial scheduled to begin March 25, 2024.
“No one is above the law,” Patrick Wall said. “I think it just rallies his base even further.”

Whether Trump faces jail time or not will be decided by judges and jurors, but he will also face the electorate at the ballot box. Voters wanting to hear from Trump could go to Iowa or New Hampshire, but in 2024, defendant Trump’s campaign appears ready to swing through criminal courtrooms.