As it turns out, Donald Trump managed to win a series of delays as he looked for ways to avoid going to trial on any of four criminal indictments before the November 5 U.S. election, when the Republican former president wanted to unseat Democratic President Joe Biden.
As you probably expected, Trump completely denies any wrongdoing. On April 25, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear Trump’s claim of presidential immunity from prosecution on charges he conspired to prevent Congress from validating his 2020 election loss to Biden and deprive voters of a fair election.
The justices put on hold the criminal case pursued by Special Counsel Jack Smith in Washington and will further review a lower court’s rejection of Trump’s immunity claim. Moreover, a decision is expected by the end of June, which further delays a trial that had been scheduled to begin on March 4.
On August 3, 2023, Trump pleaded not guilty to a four-count indictment. His lawyers claim that former presidents cannot face criminal charges for conduct when it comes to their official responsibilities.
The D.C. Circuit came to the conclusion that any executive immunity that might have shielded Trump from criminal charges while also being president “can’t protect him against this prosecution.” Smith also urged the top court to reject any possible delays.
To back up a little bit, on January 6, 2021, Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol after the then-president gave a speech telling them to march there and fight to prevent the election from being stolen. Prosecutors believe that Trump exploited the attack, spurning the advice that he directed rioters to leave.
Trump and other organized fraudulent slates of electors in seven states, all of which he lost, to be further certified as official by the Congress on January 6 in an attempt to thwart certification of Biden’s victory, as the indictment showed.
The indictment came with examples of Trump’s false claims of widespread voting fraud and noted that close advisers, such as senior intelligence officials, had already told him the results, showing that his loss was legitimate.
Special counsel’s classified documents charges
Trump pleaded not guilty on June 23, 2023, and once again on August 4, 2023, to all federal charges brought by Smith in South Florida. The charges addressed the fact that he unlawfully kept classified national security documents after leaving his presidential attributions in January 2021 and misled government officials who sought to recover them.
Trump faces no less than 40 criminal counts in the case. The timing of the trial is still uncertain. Smith sought a July start, that’s for sure. Naturally, Trump suggested August, but he also argued that no trial should take place before the November election.
Furthermore, Smith accused Trump of risking national secrets by taking thousands of sensitive papers with him when he left the White House, storing them all over the place at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and golf club in New Jersey.
The documents also included information about the United States nuclear program and other potential vulnerabilities in the event of an attack, as the indictment showed. Trump was also charged with violations of the Espionage Act, which criminalizes unauthorized possessions of national defense information, but also conspiracy to obstruct justice.
Georgia election-subversion charges
On August 31, 2023, Trump pleaded not guilty to state criminal charges in Georgia as a consequence of his efforts to reverse his 2020 election loss. A grand jury indicted him after a thorough investigation by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, an elected Democrat.
The trial date is yet to be established by Judge Scott McAfee. Trump and his 18 co-defendants were also charged under Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, originally written for the mafia. He was also charged with 13 felony counts, but the judge rapidly dismissed three counts.
Lawyers for Trump failed to have Willis disqualified. They also accused her of having an inappropriate relationship with Nathan Wade, who was the special prosecutor she appointed for the case. The judge decided that Willis could stay on the case if Wade was removed.
He resigned from the position the same day. Other co-defendants also include Mark Meadows, Trump’s former White House chief of staff, and lawyers Rudy Guiliani and John Eastman. They also pleaded not guilty.
Trial over “hush money” to a special film star
Trump was charged with 34 criminal counts of forging business records after a grand jury in Manhattan indicted him for covering up hush money he paid to Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election. On these charges, Trump pleaded not guilty on April 4, 2023.
The trial has been scheduled for March 25, but Trump’s lawyers stated that the late disclosure of evidence got in the way of their preparation. Justice Juan Merchan on Friday decided to delay the start of the trial, setting a March 25 hearing to establish more details related to the timing.
Michael Cohen, Trump’s former personal lawyer and fixer, bribed Daniels with $130,000 for her silence regarding an intimate encounter she had with Trump in 2006. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, an elected Democrat, accused Trump of trying to conceal a violation of election laws.
Trump completely denied having any intimate relationship with Daniels, but at the same time, he acknowledged that he reimbursed Cohen for that $130,000. Cohen also pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations and a series of other crimes in 2018, and he was sentenced to three years in prison.
New York attorney general civil lawsuit
New York State Justice Arthur Engoron ruled in September that Trump repeatedly committed fraud after he overstated his net worth by $3.6 billion a year. As the daily interest started to increase in 2019, the payout slowly went up to $454.2 million with interest by February 22, and more interest was tacked on each day.
Trump is expected to post a full bond, but he offered to post $100 million as an appeal. New York State Attorney General Letitia James declared she would instantly seek to seize Trump’s assets if he doesn’t post bond by the court’s March 25 deadline.
Trump and his family’s real estate business, the Trump Organization, were also accused of lying from 2011 to 2021 about his net worth and the overall value of his properties to obtain better terms from lenders and insurers. Among those properties, the Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and the Trump Tower penthouse in Manhattan were also mentioned.
Se*ual abuse and defamation civil lawsuit
On January 26, a federal jury in Manhattan ordered Trump to pay $83.3 million to E. Jean Caroll in her own defamation suit against the former president. Jurors established that Trump harmed Carroll and acted with ill intent when he defamed her by denying ra*ing her in the mid-1990s in a Bergdorf Goodman department store dressing room in Manhattan.
Trump also denied that the encounter occurred or that he knew Caroll, accusing her of inventing a story to sell her book. He is appealing the verdict, and earlier this month, he posted a $91.6 million bond for the appeal.
On May 9, 2023, another jury ordered the former president to pay the author $5 million over another similar denial after finding that he defamed and se*ually abused Carroll. Trump appealed the verdict, setting aside $5.55 million with the Manhattan Court for that process.
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