Where Donald Trump's criminal and civil cases stand
Former U.S. president and current candidate has criminal trial dates set in both March and May 2024
The latest:
- Trump acknowledges inaccuracies in rambling, defiant civil case testimony.
- Judge at civil trial rules Trump Organization committed fraud.
- Trump verbal attacks lead to limited gag orders in 2 of his 4 indictments.
- March 4, 2024, trial date set in Trump federal election-interference case.
- Trump faces more than 90 charges overall across 4 criminal indictments.
Donald Trump gave testimony in a courtroom for the first time in a decade on Nov. 6, with the judge repeatedly warning the former U.S. president regarding his outbursts at the civil trial that threatens the status of his real estate empire in New York state.
The non-jury trial centres on six charges after New York Attorney General Letitia James sued the Trump Organization, and several of its principals, in relation to an alleged decade-long scheme to manipulate asset valuations and Trump's net worth in order to gain favourable terms from lenders and insurers.
Judge Arthur Engoron resolved the main claim days before trial, ruling the organization committed fraud. Engoron ordered some of Trump's business licenses be rescinded, and said he would continue to have an independent monitor oversee Trump Organization operations.
James is seeking $250 million US in penalties and a ban on Trump doing business in his home state of New York, though Trump's legal team has already signalled an appeal will occur.
Engoron had previously fined Trump, and issued a limited gag order pertaining to court personnel, after a Trump social media post on Oct. 3 identified the law clerk in the case.
On Nov. 6, the judge frequently interjected during Trump's defiant and rambling testimony.
"I beseech you to control him if you can. If you can't, I will," Engoron told Trump's lawyers at one point.
The 77-year-old Trump, who is making a bid to return to the White House as the Republican nominee in the 2024 election, acknowledged he was involved in some of the documents at the heart of the case and some estimates were not always accurate. He said some properties, like his Mar-a-Lago estate and Doral golf course in Florida, were undervalued while others, like his Trump Tower residence in New York and his Seven Springs estate north of the city, were overvalued.
Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen — now a vociferous critic of his after a prison stint — testified on Oct. 24 that his former boss tasked him and other former Trump Organization executives with doctoring financial statements to boost the value of the company's holdings and secure better real estate premiums.
Here are some of the other major investigations and cases confronting Trump:
Georgia election interference
Trump was indicted on Aug. 11, 2023, for a fourth time since March by a Georgia grand jury, which heard evidence related to allegations of interference in the 2020 presidential election.
Trump faces 13 counts in an indictment that details dozens of acts by Trump or his allies to undo his defeat in Georgia. They include Trump beseeching Georgia's Republican secretary of state to find enough votes for him to win the battleground state, the harassment of a state election worker, and attempts to ignore the will of voters and appoint a new slate of electoral college electors favourable to Trump.
In addition to Trump, 18 others were charged, including former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani and Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark.
Four defendants so far, including lawyers Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell, have entered guilty pleas in deals with prosecutors.
Federal election probe
Trump pleaded not guilty on Aug. 3 to four charges in a Washington, D.C., federal court, in connection with his role in the attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, which he lost to President Joe Biden.
The four-count indictment alleges Trump conspired to defraud the U.S. by preventing Congress from certifying Biden's victory, and to deprive voters of their right to a fair election. He faces charges including conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct and official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding and conspiracy against rights.
Judge Tanya S. Chutkan has set a trial date of March 4, 2024, about two months later than prosecutors asked for. Trump's defence team, in a court filing, pushed for a spring 2026 trial.
Trump has lashed out at the judge and special counsel on social media and in public speeches.
Chutkan on Oct. 16 imposed a limited gag order ruling. She said Trump can't mount a "smear campaign" against prosecutors, such as special counsel Jack Smith, or court personnel but he's free to criticize the Justice Department generally and assert his belief that the case is politically motivated. It's not clear what penalties would occur if Trump breaches the order.
Unlawful retention of documents
Trump entered a plea of not guilty on June 13 and faces 40 charges overall in a federal indictment that includes violations of the Espionage Act. That act criminalizes unauthorized possession of defence information, as well as conspiracy to obstruct justice, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
The charges contain references to 31 top secret or secret documents, including material on nuclear programs, defence and weapons capabilities of the U.S. and foreign governments.
An updated indictment alleges that Trump asked employees at his estate to delete security camera footage right after his lawyers learned of a grand jury subpoena requesting that footage. The request was part of a months-long effort from the National Archives, and then the FBI and Justice Department, to obtain documents it was believed Trump possessed.
The updated indictment also charged him with illegally holding onto a document he's alleged to have shown off to visitors at his New Jersey property.
A trial has been scheduled to begin on May 20, 2024.
New York hush money case
Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg said on April 4 that Trump's indictment in New York alleges business records were falsified to cover up alleged state and federal election law violations as a result of hush-money payments. While falsification of business records on its own is a misdemeanour, punishable by a sentence of less than one year, it is considered a felony punishable by up to four years in prison if it is done to conceal or further other crimes.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts, and a trial date has been set for March 25, 2024.
The case revolves around payoffs made to ensure the silence of adult film star Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal, who both allege having affairs with the married Trump.
Trump found liable for sexual abuse
Trump faces a Jan. 15, 2024, trial date from an original federal defamation claim filed by columnist E. Jean Carroll, stemming from comments he made about her in 2019 while he was president.
Earlier this year, Trump was found criminally liable for sexual abuse related to an incident in the mid-1990s that Carroll testified about at a three-week civil defamation trial in New York.
Carroll alleged Trump raped her in spring 1996 in the dressing room of a Manhattan department store. The jury denied that claim, but awarded Carroll $5 million US in damages after finding the preponderance of evidence supported the claims of sexual abuse, as well as defamation stemming from a late 2022 Trump social media post.
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With files from Reuters and The Associated Press