Never in the entire history of the United States has a former president been indicted for any criminal conduct. This has not been because there was never such an incident. Most importantly, the historic precedent is that post-term indictment is NOT legally allowed.

Americans don't like the idea of criminalizing politics. Just look at Ukraine. In January 2022, Ukraine's former president, Petro Poroshenko, landed in Kyiv and was charged with Treason by Zelensky in a case that illustrates the danger of criminalizing politics. So many other banana republics do the same. Once one party gets a hold of power, they try to prosecute the opposition.

Up until now, both political parties, as well as the public, see the prospect of post-term immunity as a guarantee that the country's politics will remain civil and that power will transition peacefully from one party to the other. All of that is now crumbling before our eyes. That very percedent is what drove President Gerald Ford to pardon Richard Nixon. It was also the reason why the Office of the Independent Counsel decided not to indict former President Bill Clinton for perjury.