Legal Cases Against Trump

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/03/what-are-the-legal-cases-against-donald-trump.html EARLY AND OFTEN MAR. 24, 2023 The Case(s) Against Donald Trump It’s hard to keep track, so we made a guide. By Nia Prater, Intelligencer staff writer, who covers New York politics Photo-Illustration: by Intelligencer; Photos Getty Images In recent days, all eyes have been on the Manhattan grand jury that is expected to indict Donald Trump, but his legal troubles extend far beyond the city’s borders. In Georgia, he is being investigated for his attempts to overturn the state’s 2020 election results while he was president. In Washington, a Justice Department special counsel is running a fast-moving probe into both his handling of classified documents and his conduct around the attack on the U.S. Capitol. And then there’s the civil case against him by E. Jean Carroll, who accused Trump of sexual assault and defamation. It can be a lot to follow, so here’s what’s on deck. Stormy Daniels Hush Money Case type: Criminal Where: New York County Prosecutor: Alvin Bragg, Manhattan district attorney When: Next week at the earliest Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer, paid $130,000 to Stormy Daniels to prevent her from sharing her story about an affair with Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign. Cohen has maintained that his former boss directed him to make this payment, reimbursed him for the cost, and cooked the Trump Organization’s books to cover it up. Prosecutors are trying to determine whether Trump caused business records to be falsified. Under New York law, that’s usually prosecuted as a misdemeanor, but prosecutors are said to make the case that it rises to a felony because of its connection to a potential violation of the contribution limits to campaigns. Election Tampering in Georgia Case type: Criminal Where: Fulton County, Georgia Prosecutor: Fani Willis, Fulton County district attorney When: Later this spring In 2021, Willis began her inquiry into the Trump campaign’s attempts to overturn Joe Biden’s victory the year before. The probe centers around the infamous phone call Trump made to Georgia’s secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, asking him to “find” additional votes during a recount in order to be declared the winner. A grand jury wrapped up its investigation last month and submitted to Willis its final report, which includes recommendations for indictments. The names are not public, but the interview-friendly forewoman left little doubt that Trump is at the top of the list. Willis is reportedly considering racketeering charges, and CNN reports she will make a decision this spring. Classified Documents at Mar-a-Lago Case type: Criminal Where: U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Prosecutor: Jack Smith, DOJ special counsel When: Unclear In August, the FBI executed a search warrant for Trump’s personal residence at Mar-a-Lago based on the suspicion that the former president didn’t fully comply with a federal subpoena asking him to turn over classified documents he had from his presidency. What agents found were hundreds of documents, including some marked “Top Secret” or “Classified.” Trump is not only under investigation for improperly storing such documents but also for obstructing the government’s investigation. Weeks after the search, Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed as special counsel a veteran prosecutor named Jack Smith, who has a history of prosecuting war criminals at the Hague. The New York Times reports that prosecutors believe they have evidence that shows Trump impeded the government’s attempts to recover the documents, and a top lawyer was compelled to testify before a grand jury Friday. 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 When: Unclear Perhaps the biggest case of all, the Justice Department has been investigating a variety of plots that intersected with Trump in relation to the lead-up to the attack on the U.S. Capitol. One such plot was the scheme to send fake electors from the states to Congress on January 6, 2021, in order to declare Trump as the phony winner of the election. Smith’s office has issued subpoenas to election officials in key states such as Arizona, Wisconsin, and Michigan. Another plot involves how Trump and his inner circle sought to pressure his vice-president, Mike Pence, to stop Congress from certifying Biden’s victory that day. There is also the question of how exactly Trump fit into the violence that unfolded at the Capitol after he urged his supporters to march there during his speech at the Ellipse. On Friday afternoon, Smith’s office scored a huge victory in court when a judge ruled that several members of the Trump administration, including former chief of staff Mark Meadows, must comply with a subpoena for grand-jury testimony. E. Jean Carroll Case type: Civil Where: New York Supreme Court Attorney: Roberta Kaplan When: April 25 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 sued him for defamation. Then she sued him 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. Of all the legal cases Trump is facing, this is the first one that will go to trial, when the two face each other in a Manhattan courtroom.