Major legal battles that await Donald Trump if he loses the election

What happens if Donald Trump fails to get re-elected as the President of the United States? Besides having to pack up and leave the White House by January 2021, when the next president would be inaugurated, Trump could find himself embroiled in a number of legal battles.

As the US president, the 74-year-old currently enjoys a number of protections against prosecution. However, if and when he is out of office, Trump is likely to be investigated in multiple cases, those including financial frauds in his business dealings in private capacity, or through his company – The Trump Organization. There are claims by some others that Trump used the presidency for vested interests.

Additionally, he is facing defamation lawsuits related to his rejection of sexual assault allegations made by women.

Many of these investigations essentially blocked due to the high office Trump presently holds.

Here are some of the major legal battles Trump could face:

Obstructing justice

Former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report on the investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 presidential election has detailed numerous incidences in which Trump may have obstructed justice, including his suggestion that former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) director James Comey drop an investigation of his national security advisor Michael Flynn, firing Comey, his attempts at sacking Muller himself and making comments publicly encouraging witnesses not to cooperate. Trump has denied these charges.

However, Mueller did not recommend pressing criminal charges against Trump, citing the Justice Department’s official position that a sitting president cannot be indicted.

The Justice Department, under a new president, could revisit these charges against Trump.

Jean Carroll’s defamation case

In 2019, Advice columnist E. Jean Carroll accused Trump of raping her in a Manhattan department store’s dressing room in the 1990s. Trump rejected the claim saying Carroll was lying and that she was “not my type.”

Subsequently, Carroll sued Trump for defamation. Trump was asked to provide a DNA sample and submit for deposition. In September, the Justice Department claimed that Trump’s statements were part of his official duties. The department argued that the administration should substitute for Trump as the defendant in the case. This would, according to a Bloomberg report, effectively force the dismissal of the lawsuit as the government cannot be sued for defamation. A federal judge’s ruling in the matter is awaited.

Defamation suit by Summer Zervos

Summer Zervos, a former contestant on The Apprentice show, said ahead of the 2016 presidential election that Trump groped and kissed her in a hotel room in 2007. Trump denied these claims and called Zervos a liar. Zervos sued him for defamation in 2017. Trump has argued that, as the president, he is immune from lawsuits filed in a state court. The Court of Appeals in New York is expected to decide on the matter in early 2021.

Civil investigation into Trump Organization

The New York Attorney General is moving ahead with a civil investigation into if the Trump Organization improperly inflated the value of certain assets in some cases and lowered them in others, allegedly to secure loans and get tax benefits.

Officials are scrutinising the tax breaks received by the Trump Seven Springs in Bedford and the Trump National Golf Club in Los Angeles. Investigators are also probing the valuation of a Trump office tower on Wall Street in New York and the forgiveness of a more than $100 million loan on the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago, according to CNN.

Trump’s son Eric – the executive vice president of the organisation – deposed before the Attorney General in October. Eric has called the investigation politically motivated and that it represents “the highest level of prosecutorial misconduct.”