CNN’s Elie Honig Breaks Down the High Personal ‘Stakes’ For Trump If He Loses Election: ‘Two Federal Trials’ As Early As Next Year

CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig broke down the superseding indictment handed down in the federal election subversion case against Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and reminded viewers of the high personal stakes for the former president in November’s election on Wednesday.

After explaining how Special Counsel Jack Smith’s new indictment of Trump had been pared down to comply with the Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity, Honig speculated that Trump’s team would likely appeal to argue that it still does not.

Then anchor John Berman shifted gears.

“I think the tenor of the entire discussion in the last few months about all the cases about Donald Trump has been, ‘Oh, if he wins the election/when he wins the election, all these cases go away.’ Well, the election looks a lot different now potentially than it might have a couple of months ago when Joe Biden was still running,” he observed. “Trump could lose. What happens if he loses to these cases?”

“It’s such a good reminder of the stakes for Donald Trump, the individual, because if he wins, he’s president and these cases all go away or get put on indefinite long-term hold. But if he loses, he’s going to have to contend with all four of these cases,” replied Honig. “Now, the case we’ve been talking about, the January 6 case, that will take a while to go through the process we just discussed, but I think it will ultimately make it to trial. But you and I can be standing here in 2026 possibly talking about that trial. The other federal case, the classified documents case currently dismissed. Trump filed- excuse me, Jack Smith filed the brief a couple days ago asking to revive it. And I think he’ll win on that. I think he’ll get that case reinstated. But again, we’re looking at trial late 2025, 2026.”

The good news for the former president, according to Honig, is that “both state cases are in serious trouble.”

“Obviously, the Manhattan case is over, we have potentially sentencing in a few weeks. But I think there’s going to be a major appeal issue, I think there’s a good chance that case gets reversed. And the Georgia case, I think we’ve seen the last of,” he argued.

“If Donald Trump loses, he’s facing serious trials and he’ll have a lot of time on his hands if he’s not president,” observed Berman.

“If he loses, I think it’s very likely he’s going to have two federal trials late 2025, early 2026,” affirmed Honig.

Watch above via CNN.

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