- After months of delay, Donald Trump was convicted on Friday in his hush money case.
- Now that his criminal status has been finalized, he can appeal the sentence and the prosecution itself.
- Meanwhile, the liquor licenses at two of his New Jersey golf clubs could be revoked.
Donald Trump received no punishment for the 34-count conviction handed down by a jury in his money case in New York.
However, the president-elect’s conviction finalizes his status as a criminal, heralding a new chapter in legal proceedings.
Trump, who is scheduled to be sworn in again as president on January 20, can now begin an appeal of his criminal conviction.
Meanwhile, his business interests could face legal challenges and the liquor licenses at his New Jersey golf resorts could be revoked.
Here’s what comes next now that Trump is the first president in US history with a felony conviction on his record.
Donald Trump at his Bedminster golf club, which has a liquor license that could be in jeopardy. Seth Wenig/AP
Trump liquor licenses
The liquor licenses for two of Trump’s New Jersey golf courses, Trump National Golf Club in Colts Neck and Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, could be in jeopardy.
“With the conclusion of the hearing, the Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) will continue to determine whether President-elect Trump is qualified to continue to hold an interest in the licenses,” said a spokeswoman for the New York Attorney General’s office. Jersey. , where ABC is a partition.
Last summer, the New Jersey Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control ordered and then postponed a hearing to revoke the liquor licenses of both clubs, saying it was waiting for Trump’s conviction to be finalized.
Since then, both clubs have been operating under temporary licenses that expire in February. Those licenses have remained in effect, “allowing establishments to continue serving alcohol pending a hearing on renewals,” the spokesman said Wednesday.
Trump has a third New Jersey club in Pine Hill, Trump National Golf Club Philadelphia. Its liquor license is up for renewal by city authorities in June. City officials did not respond to a request for comment on their plans for that license.
The liquor licenses for all three New Jersey clubs are in Donald Trump Jr.’s name. — but that doesn’t protect them from Trump’s new status as a convicted felon, New Jersey officials said.
State law requires revocation if someone who holds or is the primary beneficiary of a liquor license has a completed felony conviction.
The AG’s spokesman said this week that the agency’s previous review, which found that Trump benefited from the licenses, has not changed.
“There has been no change in ABC’s review showing that the president-elect maintains a direct beneficial interest in the three liquor licenses by receiving income and profits from them as the sole beneficiary of the Donald J. Trump.” the AG’s spokesman said this week.
Trump and his attorney Todd Blanche in a video feed during his sentencing hearing on Friday. Pool/Getty Images
A criminal complaint
Trump can now appeal his indictment and conviction to the New York Appellate Division, which serves as the state’s first-tier appeals court.
If that fails, he can file with the New York State Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court.
If state courts uphold his conviction, Trump could ask the US Supreme Court to overturn it.
The Supreme Court ruled by a narrow 5-4 margin to allow Trump’s conviction to go forward on Friday.
Two of the Republican-appointed justices, John Roberts and Amy Coney Barrett, sided with the Democratic nominees to allow the hearing.
In legal arguments after the trial, Trump’s lawyers have cited a July Supreme Court ruling that found a president has immunity from prosecution. The ruling provides broad immunity, so evidence involving a president’s “official acts” cannot be used in a criminal prosecution, even for unofficial acts.
The Justice Department frequently intervenes on behalf of members of the executive branch to argue that its members are immune from certain types of civil suits.
The department could do the same for Trump as he appeals his criminal case, Michel Paradis, a professor of constitutional law at Columbia University, told Business Insider.
“They would basically file a motion with the Appellate Division to protect the interests of the United States, which would give them the right to file a record and argue,” Paradis told BI.
Trump has nominated Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, the lead lawyers in his Manhattan criminal case, to serve in top roles at the Justice Department for his second term.
Trump has also named John Sauer — who successfully argued the criminal immunity case on his behalf last year — as his pick for solicitor general, who makes arguments before the Supreme Court.
Other legal matters
The two federal criminal cases against Trump — over his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and taking government documents with him to Mar-a-Lago after the presidency — were dismissed after Trump won re-election in November.
He still faces a number of civil lawsuits stemming from his actions during the January 6, 2021 riots, but they are likely to continue to move slowly through the courts.
A fourth criminal case, in Atlanta, over Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election in Georgia has been mired in delays. The case is effectively frozen after Fani Willis, the district attorney who brought the suit against Trump and more than a dozen co-defendants, is appealing a decision to remove him from the case over an inappropriate relationship with his special counsel.
The biggest consequences for Trump may be the judgments against him in the civil cases brought by the New York Attorney General’s office and by the writer E. Jean Carroll.
In February, a New York judge found Trump and his companies liable for fraud, ordering them to pay fines that, with interest, have totaled nearly half a billion dollars. An appeal in that case is pending.
Two juries have ordered Trump to pay a total of nearly $90 million after finding him liable for sexual abuse and defamation of Carroll. Even these cases are being complained about.
