Norm Eisen, a lawyer who helped with the handling of the first impeachment case from the U.S. House of Representatives against then-President Donald Trump, is predicting the ex-president and continued candidate for the office is “likely” to face jail time this year.
Trump has been criminally charged in four cases, including two at the state level and two federal cases. “Will Trump be sentenced to jail in 2024? Likely yes,” Eisen posted this weekend on X, formerly Twitter, in the context of a discussion in which he participated on CNN covering the latest developments in Trump’s legal troubles. Eisen was generally optimistic about a progression of justice towards accountability for Trump.
Though the trial on criminal claims against Trump from Special Counsel Jack Smith over the ex-president’s attempts after the 2020 presidential race to stay in power despite losing was put on hold, Eisen noted the opportunity remained for other trial proceedings against Trump to move forward in the meantime. Eisen also expected that the arguments Trump is making in an attempt to stop the Smith case — that he should have widely encompassing protections from potential prosecution for actions taken as president — would fail, putting that federal trial back on the schedule.
“The delay of the DC 2020 election interference case is a win for Trump–but only a temporary 1,” Eisen posted. “That’s because it makes room for the 2016 election interference case in NYC to go to trial as scheduled on March 25[.] Then DC trial will likely follow.” The New York case relates to Trump’s alleged role in a falsification of business records related to hush money given to Stormy Daniels before the 2016 elections. Daniels alleged she had an affair with Trump, and money provided to her by Trump’s former ally Michael Cohen was effectively deemed in support of Trump’s campaign by federal prosecutors already, accusing Cohen of violating rules for campaign support.
