Trump says he faces 561 years in prison in fundraising email

Former President Trump told his supporters in a fundraising email Wednesday that he could face up to 561 years in prison after the Justice Department (DOJ) indicted him in connection with his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

“With Crooked Joe’s corrupt DOJ having unlawfully INDICTED yours truly yet again, reports indicate that I could now face a combined 561 YEARS in prison from the Left’s witch hunts,” Trump said in the email.

Defendants are rarely sentenced to the maximum prison term for all crimes for which they are convicted, and terms for different crimes can be served consecutively, limiting the total time a defendant spends in prison.

Trump is facing four counts in special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into the events of Jan. 6, 2021, and other efforts to keep Trump in power after he lost to President Biden.

The former president is also facing an additional mountain of legal woes in the form of a 40-count federal indictment over his handling of classified materials at Mar-a-Lago after leaving the White House — charges that include counts under the Espionage Act — as well as a 34-count indictment from the Manhattan district attorney in connection with a six-figure payment that Trump’s former fixer, Michael Cohen, made to adult film star Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016 election.

He also faces another possible slate of charges alleging election interference in Fulton County, Ga.

Critics have previously accused the former president of using his campaign to avoid jail time or raise funds for legal defense.

Trump’s political committees have spent campaign money on legal fees in the last year, including nearly half of the $53 million he raised in the first half of 2023, according to Federal Election Commission filings. 

“And the fact is, when you look at just his campaign filings yesterday, almost most of the money that middle-class Americans have given to him, he spent on his own legal fees,” 2024 GOP primary rival and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Tuesday. “I mean, this guy’s a billionaire.”

Updated: 3:08 p.m.