“It’s a scam trial. If you read all the legal pundits over the legal scholars today, there’s not one that I see that said this is a case that should be brought or tried. It’s a scam. It’s a political witch hunt,” said former President Donald Trump on Monday while exiting the courtroom.

While Trump may see it that way, his hush money trial – which started Monday in New York – is very real in prosecutors’ eyes. 

Jury selection began Monday in the first of a series of criminal trials he’s facing. He allegedly covered up an affair by paying off former adult film star Stormy Daniels just before the 2016 election. 

Prosecutors say Trump falsified business records as part of the cover-up. He pleaded not guilty a year ago to 34 counts in this case. 

But if Trump is convicted and ends up in prison, could he still be president if re-elected this fall?

KOB 4 spoke to a UNM legal expert who says the answer is absolutely. 

“The Constitution is very clear. It’s about location of birth – being born in the United States. It’s about age – being 35. And those are the two requisite rules. They kept Alexander Hamilton off the ballot for the presidency because he wasn’t born in the United States,” said UNM Professor of Law Joshua Kastenberg. 

On Monday, the judge in the case excused around 50 jurors because they said they couldn’t be unbiased.

Kastenberg says jury selection will take extra work because everyone knows Trump. But he says in some ways the jurors will be on trial in the public eye. 

“It doesn’t require a juror to not know who the individual was or not know what the crimes were. What that means is that the person cannot have prejudged the case, cannot begin their deliberations either with the other jurors or in their mind,” Kastenberg said. 

Another hypothetical is if a jury convicts Trump, could he just pardon himself if he’s re-elected? Not in state cases like this one in New York. There’s only one person who could pardon him. 

“Trump cannot pardon himself for the conviction under state crime, which is what he’s facing in New York. He has no power to do that. Only the governor of New York does,” said Kastenberg. 

Jury selection could take all week, even two weeks. The trial is expected to last between six and eight weeks.