by Madeleine Hubbard
Former President Donald Trump is facing numerous legal battles before the 2024 presidential election and argues he’s being charged with offenses during campaign season.
Two criminal trials are in federal courts, while the remaining ones are both civil and criminal in state courts.
The latest came Monday when Trump was indicted along with 18 others for allegedly trying to interfere with the 2020 election results in Georgia.
Here’s a list of all the legal battles Trump faces ahead of and through the 2024 elections:
- Federal criminal charges over classified documents
Trial information: May 20, 2024, in Fort Pierce, Fla.
Trump’s plea: Not guilty to all 40 felony charges.
After Trump’s home in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, was raided last August, he and two of his employees were hit with charges related to the alleged mishandling of classified documents in special counsel Jack Smith’s probe. Of the two employees, valet Walt Nauta has pleaded not guilty, and Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira has not entered a plea because he does not yet have a Florida-based attorney.
Trump’s charges in this case include 32 violations of the Espionage Act as well as other counts of obstruction and making false statements.
- Federal criminal charges over 2020 election
Trial information: A date has not been scheduled, but the trial is expected to be held in Washington, D.C. Federal prosecutors have proposed Jan. 2, 2024, as the trial date.
Trump’s plea: Not guilty to all 4 felony charges.
Trump was charged in early August following another probe led by Smith after the Democrat-led House Jan. 6 committee voted to refer him to the Justice Department for prosecution for his alleged involvement in attempts to overturn President Joe Biden’s win in the 2020 election and his role in the subsequent Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
He faces two counts of obstructing an official proceeding, one count of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and one count of conspiracy against rights.
- Georgia state charges in Fulton County over 2020 election
Trial information: A date has not been scheduled, but the trial is expected to be held in Georgia. District Attorney Fani Willis said she wants the trial to be held within the next six months.
Trump’s plea: A date for him to enter a plea has not been scheduled, but he has said he is innocent.
The indictment was issued Monday out of Fulton County after Willis led a multi-year investigation into alleged efforts to overturn the election in Georgia.
Trump and 18 of his allies face 41 felony counts in total. All defendants were charged with racketeering, which is typically used to target members of criminal organizations, according to Reuters. Trump has asserted his innocence in the case.
- New York state felony charges over falsification of business records
Trial information: March 25, 2024, in Manhattan, New York City
Trump’s plea: Not guilty to all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
The former president pleaded not guilty in April to all counts resulting from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s probe. The charges stem from Trump’s alleged role in hush money payments made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy playmate Karen McDougal before the 2016 election.
Trump has asserted his innocence in the case.
- New York Attorney General Letitia James’ civil lawsuit
Trial information: Oct. 2, 2023, in New York.
Trump’s plea: He says he is not liable.
James, a Democrat, filed a lawsuit last year alleging that the former president and his family participated in deceptive business practices through the Trump Organization by providing false information about Trump’s net worth and his asset value.
The case has been dropped against Trump’s oldest daughter, Ivanka Trump, per NPR. James is seeking roughly $250 million in penalties and to ban Trump, his children and executive team members from operating a business in New York state.
- Civil defamation lawsuit brought by author E. Jean Carroll
Trial information: Jan. 15, 2024, in Manhattan.
Trump’s plea: He says he is not liable.
A jury found Trump liable for sexual battery and defamation in May in a lawsuit brought by Carroll, who was awarded $5 million in damages. Carroll is now seeking an additional $10 million at least in damages in another defamation lawsuit against Trump.
Trump has denied the allegations and filed his own counter-defamation case against Carroll, which has since been dismissed.
- Civil case related to Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol Riot
Trial information: A date has not been scheduled, but it is expected to be held in D.C.
Trump’s plea: He says he is not liable.
Sandra Garza, the partner of deceased U.S. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, filed a lawsuit against Trump in January 2023 seeking $10 million in damages on claims of wrongful death and conspiracy to violate civil rights, per Axios. Sicknick suffered two strokes and died one day after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
Trump’s attorneys this week asked for the civil proceedings to be paused as the federal election case against him plays out in court.
- Additional civil case related to Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol Riot
Trial information: A date has not been scheduled, but it is expected to be held in D.C.
Trump’s plea: He says he is not liable.
Two Capitol Police Officers, James Blassingame and Sidney Hemby, as well as California Democrat Rep. Eric Swalwell and other House Democrats, filed a lawsuit against Trump for allegedly inciting the Capitol riot with his remarks during the “Stop the Steal” rally in D.C. on Jan. 6, 2021. The Justice Department said in March that Trump does not have immunity for his claims, according to the Associated Press.
- Civil case over Trump’s 2020 election claims
Trial information: A date has not been scheduled, but it is expected to be held in Pennsylvania.
Trump’s plea: He says he is not liable.
Pennsylvania voting machine supervisor James Savage filed a lawsuit claiming that Trump and his allies conspired to defame him by falsely claiming he altered the 2020 election outcome. Trump has immunity for most of the remarks, which were made while he was in office, but not for one made after he left the White House.
“We expect that the rest of Mr. Savage’s claims will similarly be disposed of as they are without merit,” Trump legal spokeswoman Alina Habba said earlier this month.
Trump said Tuesday that he was purposely indicted in Georgia as he is campaigning for president.
While dates are scheduled for four of Trump’s trials, the legal proceedings may take years.
For example, Texas GOP Attorney General Ken Paxton was indicted in 2015 on two counts of securities fraud and one count related to failing to register with regulators. The FBI is currently probing allegations of bribery and corruption against Paxton, who has maintained his innocence. A trial for the charges filed 8 years ago still has been held.
Even if the case against Trump does go to trial, jury selection alone may take a significant amount of time.
Willis last year indicted Jeffery Lamar Williams, the rapper known as Young Thug, along with 29 other people on the same racketeering charges that Trump and his allies were charged with.
The trial began eight months ago, and not a single juror has been selected, according to Atlanta News First.
Even if all jurors in any of the criminal cases unanimously find Trump guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, he could still appeal the verdict or seek a new trial.
Speaking after Trump was indicted in Bragg’s probe, which was the first set of criminal charges brought against Trump, UCLA election law professor Richard Hasen told Time: “I cannot imagine that Trump would be convicted, and sent to jail, before the 2024 election season is over.”
Former Assistant U.S. Attorney in the DOJ’s Civil Division Kim Wehle, who was also Associate Independent Counsel to Kenneth W. Starr and now teaches law at The University of Baltimore School of Law said the case “could easily go beyond the 2024 election given all the complexities. … Trump’s lawyers don’t have a problem filing frivolous motions, but there are a lot of legitimate, good-faith arguments to make on Trump’s behalf, without even seeing the indictment.”
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Madeleine Hubbard joined Just the News as a fast file reporter after working as an editor at Breitbart News.
