Dem
47
GOP
53
The president in question here is the former president of Argentina, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, who ruled over the South American country from 2007 to 2015. She was convicted of corruption in 2022 when a court found her guilty of fraud. She directed millions of dollars of taxpayer money to a friend's company. She has also been indicted on other charges involving corruption. She is currently the leader of the main opposition party, the Justicialist Party. Argentina's top court just upheld her conviction.
Fernández de Kirchner might escape prison because she is 72 and under Argentinian law, people over 70 usually get to serve prison sentences under house arrest. Her lawyer is requesting that.
She is a self-identified leftist and Peronist and enjoys considerable popularity among Argentinians. Nevertheless, she was put on trial, convicted, and lost all her appeals after serving in office.
This could be an omen, but it is doubtful that Donald Trump will get the message. If a Democrat is elected president in 2028, the AG could take a good hard look at Trump's record and decide that he committed one or more crimes not covered by his immunity and indict him for them. Any argument that no country ever prosecutes a former president would be tough to make if Fernández de Kirchner goes to prison (or even gets house arrest). Of course, she isn't the first former president of some country to be convicted of crimes (here is a long long list of them), but this one is in a democratic country in the Western Hemisphere and the conviction is during Trump's term. Let it be a warning. (V)