Trump’s criminal trial may be at least 6 months away, says USC political science professor

COLUMBIA, SC (WOLO) — President Donald Trump now holds 34 felony charges for falsifying business records.

But, Professor of Political Science at the University of South Carolina, Dr. Kirk Randazzo, says like any other individual, Trump has the presumption of innocence until proven guilty.

“In an indictment, the standard is a preponderance of the evidence. In a criminal trial, you have to be proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, so it is a much higher standard,” says Randazzo.

He believes Trump’s criminal trial is at least four to six months away, citing that Trump’s attorneys will likely attempt to delay the trial until the start of the Presidential Election cycle and then file a motion to have it put on hold until the election is over.

In the meantime, Randazzo says, other presidential hopefuls will have to walk a bit of a tightrope.

“The decision calculus is, ‘What do I need to say in order to appeal to the Republican base that still holds Donald Trump in very high esteem, and is likely going to come out in that primary to cast a vote?’ Versus ‘The rest of the electorate that I’m going to need to cater to when it comes to the general election,’ and that’s a hard decision to make,” says Randazzo.

Presidential candidate and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley is expected to hold a rally in Lexington on April 6th at 6 p.m.

Senator Tim Scott has yet to make a formal decision regarding a run for the presidency.

“(Haley’s) got a bit more flexibility in terms of how she wants to craft her statement. Tim Scott — as a sitting member of the Senate — I think maybe has to walk a finer line,” Randazzo says.

If convicted, Randazzo says there is nothing in the Constitution that prevents Trump for continuing his run for the presidency.

“That said, there are a few laws on the books, that if convicted of those, part of the punishment is, you can never run again. And those laws are really connected more toward the document issue he’s facing, not necessarily the hush money part and the payments to Stormy Daniels,” Randazzo says.

Trump is expected to give a speech discussing his arraignment from his home in Florida at Mar-a-Lago, Tuesday night at 8 p.m.