Trump could run for office if convicted, but there is another hurdle in his quest to return to the White House

Donald Trump (2017-2021) has been indicted this Tuesday by a Washington grand jury on four charges for allegedly trying to reverse the result of the November 2020 elections and going to the extreme of encouraging the assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021 .

It is the third charge after the criminal charges for the case of Stormy Daniels, the porn actress whose silence he allegedly tried to buy, and the most serious charge so far for taking, hiding and not wanting to return classified documents that should never have left the White House.

However, this judicial siege does not legally affect his career towards the White House. In the United States, the country of freedoms, there is a history of other politicians who remained at the forefront of politics despite being convicted and being in prison.

In 1920 the candidate for the White House, the socialist Eugene Debs, ran for office after being convicted of sedition in 1918 for protesting US involvement.. in World War I and polled nearly a million votes while in an Atlanta jail.

Trump could even return to the White House despite being convicted. Again, there are precedents for members of the US Congress who have served parts of their term after being convicted of a federal crime like James Traficant (1985-2002), of Ohio, who was prosecuted for using campaign funds for personal use.

The cost of paying legal bills

What can affect the ex-president's desire to return to Washington is the economic cost of his defense. Trump's political operation is already feeling the weight of the millionaire payments to lawyers, according to US media.

Trump has raised more than $53 million since early 2023, the period when his two criminal indictments in Florida and New York skyrocketed fundraising.

Trump's network of political committees spent an estimated $25 million in legal fees, according to information released this week.. But according to a source who insisted on anonymity to discuss the matter with the press, the figure is considerably higher: $40 million this year alone.

The main beneficiaries have represented Trump and his allies in a series of investigations. Attorney Alina Habba, a Trump legal spokeswoman who worked on the civil sexual assault lawsuit brought by writer E Jean Carroll, has collected $3.5 million for her firm since 2022, records show.

The law firm of Evan Corcoran, attorney in the Mar-a-Lago documents case, has raised $3.4 million. Entities set up by Stefan Passantino, a former Trump White House ethics lawyer who advised figures from Trump world in the House investigation into the January 6 attack, have received $3.1 million, according to the records.

If the analysis of campaign finance reports goes back further, Trump's political committees have paid out at least $59.2 million to more than 100 lawyers and law firms since January 2021, when a mob of his supporters stormed at the UN headquarters.

So while Trump dominates the Republican primary field, a lack of cash could complicate his bid for the White House.. To pay their legal bills, Trump allies are launching a new fundraising effort. The Patriot Legal Defense Fund, as it is called, is intended to defray the costs of those who “defend themselves against legal action arising from the involvement of an individual or group in the political process,” according to a filing. done last month.