Rule 43: Trump could go to jail if he refuses to attend trial after Jack Smith indictment

An obscure federal rule could yank Donald Trump off of the campaign trail -- and could land him in custody -- if special counsel Jack Smith indicts him and the ex-president balks at attending the trial proceedings.

In a column for the Daily Beast, Trump biographer David Cay Johnston explained that the former president would not have the option of skipping a federal trial brought by the Department of Justice in the same manner as he has with the E. Jean Carroll rape and defamation trial currently ongoing in Manhattan.

As Johnston notes, a DOJ indictment could force the former president off the campaign trail at a critical junction if his lawyers were unable to get a delay until after the election.

At issue is what is known as is Rule 43 which mandates the accused in felony trials must be in attendance during their trials.

"Under Lewis v. United States, an 1892 Supreme Court decision which formed the basis for Rule 43, Trump would be required to attend every minute of his trial," Johnston wrote before elaborating, "The high court held in Lewis that a 'leading principle that pervades the entire law of criminal procedure' is that once an individual is indicted 'nothing shall be done in the absence of the prisoner… in felonies it is not in the power of the prisoner, either by himself or his counsel, to waive the right to be personally present during the trial.'"

He then added, "That standard applies even if Trump were free on his own recognizance or on bail."

Making matters worse for a recalcitrant Trump, Johnston wrote, "If he [Trump] tried to boycott the trial, he would be arrested and held in custody until the trial ended."

Federal court is not the only place where the former president faces jail time while a trial is ongoing.

"A similar attendance rule applies for criminal trials in New York, where Trump was indicted last month on 34 felony counts connected with hush money paid in 2016 to Stephanie Clifford, better known as the porn star Stormy Daniels. The mandatory attendance rule also applies in Georgia, where Trump is under investigation by Fani Willis, the Fulton County district attorney," the columnist added.