Associate Professor at Maynooth University School of Law and Criminology, Seth Barrett Tillman and Professor Volokh (University of California at Los Angeles) were cited in an August 8, 2022 article in The New York Times on eligibility criteria for being President of the United States. See Charlie Savage, ‘If Trump broke a law on the removal of official records, would he be barred from future office?,’ New York Times (Aug. 8, 2022, 10:18 PM), linked to Tillman’s publication on the Social Science Research Network.
In 2015, there was discussion relating to (former) Senator Clinton's (alleged) unauthorized e-mail server and possible criminal charges that might follow. At that time, Tillman and Volokh explained that a conviction under the criminal law does not make a candidate ineligible. Rather, as a general matter, presidential eligibility relates to citizenship (holding U.S. citizenship from birth), residence (14 years in the United States), and age (35 and older). It appears that similar criminal charges are now being considered against (former) President Trump for (allegedly) removing official government records when he left the White House. Following the same legal reasoning, although the former president may be at legal risk, depending on the facts, a criminal conviction would not bar him from another run for elected federal office, including the presidency. As a legal matter, Trump would be free to run for the presidency—even while in jail.