In the wake of former President Trump’s recent guilty conviction, CERL’s Professor Claire Finkelstein spoke with media about how the ruling upholds accountability as a core tenet of the rule of law.

“We might have believed up until this moment that accountability for a former president was not possible, that presidents were just too powerful ever to be held accountable if they violate the law,” said Finkelstein. “[This] verdict says for the first time that, despite Donald Trump’s efforts to intimidate the judge, intimidate members of the jury . . . and to do everything he could to interfere with the mechanism of justice, that in fact members of the jury . . . could follow the evidence and apply the law.”

Finkelstein shared hopes for how the verdict may affect Trump’s current base of supporters.

“I think it will, over the long run, and even over the medium run, start to sink in, especially if there are additional verdicts that come down, that actually this man is a criminal. He has violated the law multiple times over. And as Americans start to look at the evidence and start to really think about the charges, it may start to change their minds.”

Donald Trump’s sentencing hearing is set for July 11.

Claire Finkelstein is the Algernon Biddle Professor of Law and Professor of Philosophy and Faculty Director of the Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law. Read her bio here. 

The views expressed here are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of any organization or university.