Law professor says Trump's legal battles likely 'not over yet' after impeachment acquittal

Donald Trump became the first US President to be impeached and acquitted twice on Saturday. The Senate failed to reach a two/thirds majority to convict the former president for inciting an insurrection. Notre Dame Law Professor Richard Garnett said the acquittal did not mean Trump's legal battles are over.

"There are a number of civil and criminal investigations that have had to be on hold while he was president that can now move forward," Garnett said.

Those investigations looked into potential tax evasion in New York and potential election interference in Georgia. Garnett also said a prosecutor could move forward with criminal charges against Donald Trump for the violence on Capitol Hill on January 6th, but Garnett said conviction on those charges would be unlikely. Local party leaders said the best thing for the country now is to look to the future.

"Now I think, we need to put this behind us and move our country forward," said Elkhart County Democratic Chairman Chad Crabtree.

"I would like to see more of the days of Tip O'Neill or Ronald Reagan where they can sit down over a cup of coffee or a glass of beer and work things out," Kosciusko County Republican Chairman Mike Ragan said. "It would be great if we could have some kind of normalcy with that."

Crabtree and Ragan both said with the impeachment trial done and President Biden's administration beginning, Congress can start working toward other goals.

"For one thing, I'd like to see those fences and razor wires removed from around the Capitol," Ragan said. "I don't think that's necessary. It's overreaction. I know of no entity that has any intentions of doing anything like that ever again. I believe people have learned their lesson. I would like to see the parties get along better."

"We need to get forth with the nation's business, put together COVID relief, get more vaccines for the country and come together."

"We need to get forth with the nation's business," Crabtree said. "Put together COVID relief, get more vaccines for the country and come together."

Garnett said with investigations surrounding Donald Trump, he could set new precedent now that he is no longer in office.

"We are going to, now, see courts having to address the question of what to do when people sue or try to prosecute the former president."

Garnett said a trying to take a former president to court has happened before. Someone tried to sue Richard Nixon after his resignation, but the effort ultimately failed.