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Donald Trump enjoyed powerful legal protections
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in his four years as president.
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Now that he has left office those shields have fallen away
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and he faces a mountain of legal troubles as a private citizen.
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He is the first president ever to be impeached twice and will
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be tried by the Senate for inciting the mob that stormed
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the US Capitol building.
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Impeachment carries no criminal penalties.
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Ordinarily, the main punishment would be removal from office.
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But Trump has already left the White House.
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He does face the threat of being banned
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from holding public office again if the Senate convicts him.
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A ban would prevent him from running for president again
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in 2024.
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It's unclear whether the Senate, which
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is divided 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans,
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will go that far.
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Two-thirds of the Senate, 67 votes,
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are needed to convict Trump.
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A separate vote on banning him from office
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would follow a conviction.
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Trump has less support among Republican senators
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than he did during his first impeachment,
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but we don't know if the party will
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turn on him in sufficient numbers to convict.
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The mob was fed lies.
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They were provoked by the president
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and other powerful people.
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Some Republicans are arguing that impeachment is designed
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for people who are still in office,
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and so therefore Trump cannot be convicted because his term has
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ended.
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However, there is historical precedent
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for officials to face an impeachment trial even
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after leaving their positions.
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But impeachment may be the least of his worries.
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Impeachment, witch hunt, impeachment.
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As President Trump was immune from arrest and indictment
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he also had the might of the Department of Justice
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behind him.
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Now, he's just a private citizen,
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albeit a wealthy one with years of experience of court battles.
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The primary threat he faces is a criminal investigation
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into his tax affairs by the Manhattan District Attorney
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Cyrus Vance.
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As president, he battled to stop Vance
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from accessing his tax records.
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But now that he has left office that investigation
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is set to accelerate.
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He's also dealing with a pair of significant civil cases.
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One is a civil probe by the New York Attorney General Letitia
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James into Trump's businesses.
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The second is a lawsuit filed by the Washington, DC Attorney
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General Karl Racine, 2017 inauguration.
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Then there are the lawsuits brought by private individuals,
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like a defamation case against Trump
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brought by E Jean Carol, a writer who
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claims that he raped her.
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He has denied the claim.
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Hanging over all of this is the prospect
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that the Department of Justice, under Joe Biden's
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administration, could investigate
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Trump on a variety of issues, like possible obstruction
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of justice, campaign finance violations,
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or an examination of his role in whipping up
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the crowd that attacked Congress earlier this month.
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Michael Sherwin has already indicated that Trump's role
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could be investigated.
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So now I'd like to invite John's wife, Jamie, to join us
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as I grant John, I'm not sure you know this, a full pardon.
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As president, Trump claimed the absolute power
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to pardon himself.
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In the end, he did not do so.
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The last president to leave under a similar cloud
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of potential legal liability, Richard Nixon,
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was pardoned by his successor, Gerald Ford.
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Joe Biden, now president, has said he will not
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do the same for Trump.