It is no stretch to say that Donald Trump is a U.S. president unlike any other. Despite being the frontrunner for the Republican nomination for president, Trump continues to face 4 criminal trials with a total of 88 charges in New York, Florida, Georgia and the District of Columbia.
Trump is currently on trial in New York for the Stormy Daniels hush money case, the 1st criminal trial involving a former U.S. president. Will his other trials see the light of day before the November election? That remains to be seen with constant delays as Trump’s team hopes to run out the clock on those and push them past an election he hopes to win.
“This is all about power. How to get it, how to keep it, how not to give it up.”
WATCH: @hillaryclinton speaks about former President Trump’s hush money trial on @morning_joe. pic.twitter.com/NNcUg7CLwC— MSNBC (@MSNBC) May 9, 2024
However, a top-rated sportsbook like Bovada (find out more with our Bovada Review) has a series of betting markets for Trump’s current legal battles. We look at the ones related to Trump’s trials with our best bets below.
Before heading into any political betting site, it should be noted that Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
New York: The Stormy Daniels Hush Money Case (34 Charges)
Trump is currently on trial in New York for alleged “hush money payments” to multiple women, including porn star Stormy Daniels, to bury their stories about affairs with Trump. These payments are alleged to have been done to illegally influence the 2016 election, and there are 34 charges relating to falsified business records by Trump and his campaign.
Trump’s guilt in this case is hard to argue with as his former lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, already served 3 years in prison for this incident. It was Cohen, working at Trump’s discretion, who paid Daniels the $130,000 hush money payment.
The biggest question is just how many guilty counts Trump will receive out of 34 in this case. At Bovada, you can bet if Trump will be found guilty of at least 1 charge in this case and “Yes” is an overwhelming favorite at -275 odds. No charges for Trump has +200 odds.
Trump may not be found guilty on every count, but 11 of them are related to invoices from Cohen, and that should be hard to beat given the evidence of Cohen and Trump working together on these payments. So, our best bet is that yes, Trump will be found guilty on at least 1 count.
- Pick: Will Donald Trump Be Found Guilty of One or More Felonies in New York? YES (-275) at Bovada
Will Trump Testify in Hush Money Case?
You can also bet at Bovada on whether or not Donald Trump will testify in a New York court in the hush money trial:
- Yes (+700)
- No (-1600)
When Trump was asked in early April, days before the trial started, about testifying at trial, he said “I would testify, absolutely” to NBC News. Since then, he has softened that stance and added caveats like only if it is necessary for him to do so.
It would be risky for Trump to testify as that would open him up to cross examination by the prosecution, and Trump has a bit of a problem in controlling himself when he speaks. Committing perjury by lying would almost certainly happen to him, and this is why most defense attorneys do not want their clients to testify at trial.
The fact that this is Donald Trump, the 45th President of the United States, just makes it all the more likely that he does not testify in this case. It would do more harm than good.
- Pick: Will Trump Testify in New York? NO (-1600) at Bovada
Florida: The Classified Documents Case (40 Charges)
This case is for Trump’s mishandling of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida. After his presidency, Trump allegedly took classified documents from the White House to Mar-a-Lago and was negligent in returning them.
The trial was supposed to start on May 20, 2024, but it has been indefinitely postponed. Trump is facing 32 counts under the Espionage Act for willful retention of national defense information.
When Judge Aileen Cannon indefinitely postponed the trial, legal experts said they were “disgusted” as this trial’s importance should allow it to happen before the election. It was thought to be the strongest of the 4 cases brought against Trump and one of the most consequential if he is found guilty.
If the trial doesn’t happen and Trump wins the election, he can very well squash the trial, pardon himself or appoint a judge who will dismiss the case.
If it does go to trial, Trump’s team will likely argue that the documents were personal and that other politicians, including Joe Biden, have done the same thing with classified documents at their private residence after their time in the White House ended.
However, the difference with Biden is he returned the documents quickly while Trump held onto his.
The odds on Trump being found guilty on a count in this one are close to even, so the threat of this trial never happening is certainly real. Even if the trial is canceled, a bet on no guilty counts would still win.
If you feel strongly that Trump is going to win the November election, then going with no guilty charges is likely the best bet here. However, if you think this trial sees the light of day, then at least 1 guilty charge should be the call, as they can get him on charges of false statements, which he made about supposedly declassifying the documents.
- Pick: Will Donald Trump Be Found Guilty of One or More of the Classified Documents Federal Charges – Yes (-130) at Bovada
Federal Election Interference Case (4 Charges)
Trump’s 3rd case is the federal election interference case stemming from the actions of Trump and his allies to allegedly overturn the 2020 election, including the events of January 6, 2021. This is the case brought by special counsel Jack Smith for the U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia.
These are the 4 charges that Trump faces:
- Conspiracy to defraud the United States.
- Conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding.
- Obstruction of, and attempt to obstruct, an official proceeding.
- Conspiracy against rights.
Trump’s legal defense argued that he was immune from any official acts as president, and that was denied by the DC Circuit Court of Appeals. It was then appealed to the Supreme Court, which heard oral arguments on April 25, 2024, and they have yet to make their ruling on Trump’s presidential immunity claim. No trial date has been set for this one.
Aside from the shocking events of January 6th, another major piece of evidence against Trump in this case is the call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, where Trump asked him to find the 11,780 votes he needed to win the state.
This case is another one that Trump can have squashed if he wins the November election. With the serious charges at stake here, we’ll hedge our bet from the previous case and say that Trump gets away with this one and no guilty charges are made.
- Pick: Will Donald Trump Be Found Guilty of One or More of the 2020 Election Result Federal Charges – No (-125) at Bovada
Georgia: The Fulton County Election Interference Case (10 Charges)
Finally, the 4th case for Trump is in Fulton County, Georgia for what he and his co-conspirators allegedly did to subvert the 2020 election results in the state. This includes the damning Raffensperger call to find Trump the 11,780 votes and the fake electors plot by Trump allies.
Four Trump allies have already pleaded guilty, so that makes Trump look bad in this one. He also cannot squash this state-level trial even if he wins the election in November, so this is one that should see the light of day and with a good likelihood of returning at least 1 guilty charge.
- Pick: Will Donald Trump Be Found Guilty of One or More of the 2020 Presidential Election Georgia Result Charges – Yes (-105) at Bovada
Other Trump Bets
Finally, Bovada has some props on what could happen to Trump down the road with all of his current legal battles.
Will Trump Be Imprisoned Before Election?
- Yes (+700)
- No (-1600)
On the surface, this looks like an easy “No” bet as it is unlikely Trump’s trials will even be decided before the election. However, Trump’s conduct during the New York trial has been so bad that he has already been held in contempt of court 10 times with a $1,000 fine each time.
Judge Merchan has threatened Trump with prison time if he continues to show contempt for the court and its proceedings. The Bovada bet knows that Trump must serve at least 24 hours in jail for any conviction of a crime. Wouldn’t a 1-day prison sentence for contempt of court count? That could be an amusing way for this bet to hit before November as Trump seemingly can’t control himself from speaking unfavorably of the judges, their families, or anyone else he’s been held in contempt over.
By angering the judge this much, Trump is also increasing the likelihood of jail time should he be found guilty of at least 5 charges in this hush money trial.
We wouldn’t recommend putting much on it, but this could be a fun bet at +700 odds to test if Trump gets a short stay in the slammer for running his mouth at the judge.
- Pick: Will Trump Be Imprisoned Before Election? YES (+700) at Bovada
Will Joe Biden Pardon Trump?
Finally, there is a bet at Bovada on whether or not President Joe Biden would pardon Donald Trump for any crimes:
- No (-1600)
- Yes (+700)
Gerald Ford once pardoned Richard Nixon in the 1970s to avoid the sight of a former U.S. president going on criminal trial for the Watergate scandal. That was thought to be an act to “heal the nation” at the time, but it was also a Republican pardoning a Republican.
In this heated time in the country, the tribalism is far too strong to think Biden would ever pardon Trump. We’re selling that pardon all the way.
- Pick: Will Joe Biden Pardon Donald Trump? NO (-1600) at Bovada
