As current state law stands, former President Donald Trump would have to spend five years in prison before becoming eligible for a pardon in Georgia. That’s according to legal experts who have found the differentiating factor that could make Georgia’s criminal case against the former president the one with the highest stakes — a mandatory sentence which would last through a potential second first term in office.
Trump faces two federal indictments, one over Jan. 6 and the other over classified documents. In both cases, if Trump was convicted, the sitting president could pardon him, but such a move is unlikely to come from President Joe Biden.
But Republicans are banking on someone from the GOP winning the White House in 2024. A Republican president would be more entailed to offer a pardon to Trump given the GOP’s stark rhetoric of a “weaponized justice system” and “witch hunt.”
In fact, candidates Vivek Ramaswamy and Nikki Haley have already promised a pardon for Trump if that hypothetical was to play out. And if Trump wins the presidency again, he could even pardon himself, according to legal experts.
For Trump 2024 supporters, it’s the state cases in Georgia and New York that have the most implications, since the federal cases could get easily dismissed even after a guilty verdict.
In the indictment out of New York where he has pleaded not guilty to falsifying business records, there is no presidential intervention since that is a state case. The governor could grant clemency to free Trump, but New York’s Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul is unlikely to do so.
In Georgia, they do have Republican Gov. Brian Kemp. However, Georgia is one of only five states that doesn’t grant pardon powers to the top state official. If Trump were to be convicted in Georgia, Kemp’s hands are tied.The decision of a pardon goes to a state board.
According to the pardon application guidelines, a convicted person in Georgia isn’t eligible for a pardon until serving at least five years.
All of these hypotheticals also have no legal precedent, which means there’s no real way of knowing what would happen to Trump or the country if he’s convicted and wins the bid for president in 2024.
