“Preposterous”: Professor Emeritus William C. Banks Fact Checks Death Penalty Claims in the Donald Trump Election Indictment

Professor Emeritus William C. Banks contributed to the USA Today fact check article “No, Trump won’t face the death penalty in 2020 election indictment.”

Recently making the rounds on social media were claims that the charges brought in the indictment against Donald Trump for election interference carried the death penalty as punishment.

“Judges have wide latitude in sentencing, and none of the charged crimes carry mandatory minimum sentences,” Banks said. “Trump has no prior criminal record, and any sentences that might be imposed could run simultaneously rather than being stacked on top of each other.”