Could the next POTUS be serving time in jail?

Op-ed: Could Our Next President Go To Jail?

“Lock her up,” “Lock Her Up,” is often heard at Donald Trump rallies, along with pro-NAZI, KKK and anti-Jewish shouts.

There is a precedent for such action after a presidential election.

And it even occurred more than four years after the election.

The president and vice president generally have immunity for acts committed while in office.

But it was a Republican – then Vice President Spiro T. Agnew.

Elected as Richard Nixon’s vice president in 1968, he got in trouble in his second term.

“In 1973, Agnew was investigated by the United States Attorney for the District of Maryland on charges of extortion, tax fraud, bribery, and conspiracy. He was charged with having accepted bribes totaling more than $100,000 while holding office as Baltimore County Executive, Governor of Maryland, and Vice President. On October 10 that same year, Agnew was allowed to plead no contest to a single charge that he had failed to report $29,500 of income received in 1967, with the condition that he resign the office of Vice President,” Wikipedia reports.

“Nearly ten years after leaving office, Agnew paid the state of Maryland nearly $270,000 as a result of a civil suit that stemmed from the bribery allegations.”

Although Trump has been able to escape jail with settlements of numerous fraud cases his luck may be running out.

The first of at least one trial for fraud at his “Trump University” and he faces trial for allegedly raping a teen. That case is set for December.

In some cases these trials have been repeatedly delayed.

“A jury trial will begin on November 28 in California federal court for one of the three pending class-action lawsuits against him over Trump University.The civil fraud case going to trial alleges the university violated false advertising laws with its programs in Florida, New York, and California for claiming that Trump would handpick instructors and that they would have extensive real estate experience. Students also say they were deceived into maxing out their credit cards to pay for Trump University fees without getting any practical advice in return.

“Another case is also pending in California federal court on behalf of all Trump University participants.

“The third is in New York state court following a lawsuit filed by New York’s attorney general accusing Trump University of fraud as it “repeatedly deceived students into thinking that they were attending a legally chartered ‘university.’” That lawsuit also claims students were misled about the instructors. The university was not in fact accredited, nor was Trump involved in selecting instructors. They instead were given scripts that told them to pretend they had met Trump.”

These are civil cases.

He could go to jail on rape charges if convicted.

“Trump’s lawyers will appear in New York district court on December 16 for a lawsuit claiming that he raped a child, referred to only as “Jane Doe,” when she was 13 in 1994.

Doe’s complaint alleges that Trump and Jeffrey Epstein (the latter a former banker and a sex offender) subjected her to “acts of rape, sexual misconduct, criminal sexual acts, sexual abuse, forcible touching, assault, battery,” and other forms of emotional and physical duress.

​ The instances, it says, took place at a series of parties at Epstein’s residence in New York City. Doe says that during their last alleged encounter, Trump tied her to a bed and then violently raped her in a “savage sexual attack” while she pleaded with him to stop. She says that he told her if she ever spoke publicly about what happened, he would hurt her and her family, Think Progress also reported.

Think Progress