The Case(s) Against Donald Trump

January 6 and the 2020 Election Aftermath

Case type: Criminal
Where: U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
Prosecutor: Jack Smith, DOJ special counsel
Status: On hold

In the single weightiest case he faces, Trump was indicted on August 1 for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, which led to the attack on the Capitol. Though Trump’s legal team pushed for a 2026 trial and Smith had requested that proceedings begin just after the New Year, Judge Tanya Chutkan ordered a trial start date of March 4, 2024. But the trial has been taken off the court calendar entirely in anticipation of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on Trump’s argument that he should have immunity for actions that took place while he was president. The court officially issued its 6-3 ruling on July 1st, finding that current and former presidents cannot be prosecuted for official acts taken while in office. The decision leaves Chutkan in the position to determine which parts of the indictment qualify as unofficial acts, something that will likely delay the trial even further.

Classified Documents at Mar-a-Lago

Case type: Criminal
Where: U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida
Prosecutor: Jack Smith, DOJ special counsel
Status: Dismissed

A year after the FBI recovered dozens of classified documents from Mar-a-Lago, Trump was hit with the first-ever federal indictment of a former president in June 2023. He was charged with 37 counts, including willful retention of national defense information and conspiracy to obstruct justice. Then in July 2023, prosecutors filed a superseding indictment that included an additional three charges against Trump and alleged that he plotted with two employees to destroy incriminating security-camera footage. The case was assigned to Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, whose handling of the trial has prompted questions among legal experts. She delayed the original May start date of the trial by taking a leisurely pace with addressing pretrial motions and issues, a boon to Trump, who has sought to put off the case until after the election. On July 15, Cannon dismissed the case, ruling that Smith’s appointment was unconstitutional just weeks after Justice Clarence Thomas raised a similar argument as part of his concurrence in the Supreme Court’s Trump immunity ruling. Smith has the ability to appeal Cannon’s ruling, but the chance of a trial in this matter occurring before the November election now seems slim at best.

Election Tampering in Georgia

Case type: Criminal
Where: Fulton County, Georgia
Prosecutor: Fani Willis, Fulton County district attorney
Status: On hold with no set start date

A grand jury indicted Trump and 18 other defendants under the state’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act on August 14, 2023, following a two-year investigation into election interference by Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis. The defendants, which include members of Trump’s inner circle like Rudy Giuliani, Mark Meadows, John Eastman, and Sidney Powell, are alleged to have taken part in a criminal conspiracy to change the outcome of the 2020 election. In addition to violations of the state’s RICO act, the defendants face numerous charges, including forgery and criminal attempt to commit influencing witnesses. But the trial, which was anticipated to begin this year, was derailed following the revelation that Willis had a past romantic relationship with Nathan Wade, a prosecutor on her team. Willis was allowed to remain on the case after a grueling hearing, but Trump’s legal team has appealed that decision, pausing the proceedings indefinitely.

Stormy Daniels Hush Money

Case type: Criminal
Where: New York County
Prosecutor: Alvin Bragg, Manhattan district attorney
Status: Trump was convicted on all 34 felony counts on May 31. His sentencing is scheduled for July 11.

On March 30, 2023, a grand jury voted to indict Trump, making him the first former president to face criminal charges. Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer, had paid $130,000 to Stormy Daniels to prevent her from sharing her story about an alleged past affair with Trump during his 2016 presidential campaign. Cohen has maintained that his former boss directed him to make the payoff, reimbursed him in a series of payments for the cost, and cooked the Trump Organization’s books to cover it up. Trump surrendered in Manhattan and was charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the first degree over how the payments to Cohen were recorded by the Trump Organization. The trial began this year on April 15 and lasted six weeks, featuring testimony from Cohen, Daniels, and ex–National Enquirer publisher David Pecker. On May 31, a Manhattan jury convicted Trump on all counts in a historic verdict. He was set to be sentenced on July 11, but Trump has asked Judge Juan Merchan to consider the Supreme Court’s recent immunity decision in the matter. The Manhattan district attorney did not oppose Trump’s motion to delay sentencing, likely pushing the hearing back by at least two weeks.

Business Fraud in New York

Case type: Civil
Where: New York County
Prosecutor: Letitia James, New York attorney general
Status: Trump was found liable for business fraud and ordered to pay $454 million in February 2024.

In September 2022, New York attorney general Letitia James filed a lawsuit against Trump alleging that he had committed fraud by misrepresenting his net worth and the valuations of several of his properties as a means to deceive banks and lenders. The suit named three of Trump’s adult children — Donald Jr., Ivanka, and Eric — as well as the Trump Organization, though Ivanka was later dropped from the suit. James initially sought $250 million and to permanently bar the Trumps from operating a business in New York State. After finding Trump, his sons, and several Trump Organization execs liable for fraud in 2023, Judge Arthur Engoron handed down a $454 million judgment on Trump on February 16 and barred him from running his company for three years. In April, Trump posted his $175 million bond as he waits for a hearing on his appeal.

E. Jean Carroll

Case type: Civil
Where: New York Supreme Court
Attorney: Roberta Kaplan
Status: Trump was found liable for battery and defamation in May 2023 and was found liable in a second defamation trial in January 2024.

In a 2019 New York cover story, writer E. Jean Carroll accused Trump of sexually assaulting her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the mid-1990s. After Trump accused her of lying, Carroll, represented by Roberta Kaplan, sued him for defamation. Then she sued for damages over the alleged assault, taking advantage of a recent New York law that extends the statute of limitations for adult survivors of sexual abuse. The trial began in April 2023, and on May 9, a jury ruled that Trump was liable for sexual assault and defamation, awarding Carroll $5 million in damages.

A second defamation trial began in federal court in New York on January 15, 2024, and lasted a week, with Carroll testifying that Trump destroyed her reputation after she accused him of assault. A jury found Trump liable for defamation after three hours of deliberation, ordering him to pay Carroll an additional $83.3 million in damages. Trump and his legal team have vowed to appeal both verdicts.