‘He could go to jail’: for Donald Trump, election day is also judgment day

Donald Trump's fate will hover between the presidency and the threat of prison.

If he claims victory, he will be the first convicted criminal to win the White House .

The 78-year-old faces more humiliating courtroom trials and potentially even time behind bars.

Trump has spent his career pushing ethical and legal boundaries to the limit.

Sentencing is scheduled for 26 November (the judge delayed it from 18 September after the Republican nominee asked that it wait until after the election.

Trump was charged by the special counsel Jack Smith with conspiring to overturn the results of his election loss to Joe Biden in the run-up to the January 6 riot at the US Capitol .

The special counsel is appealing and the charges could be reinstated.

Democrats have not emphasised Trump ’s criminal record to the degree that might once have been expected.

Some have taken the view that even criminal convictions pale in significance compared with the threat of a would-be fascist.

If elected, he is expected to use all the levers of power at his disposal to squash the outstanding cases against him.