The investigation by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis began shortly after a recording of a January 2, 2021 phone call between Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger was released, in which the then-president suggests that Raffensperger “find 11,780 votes,” enough to overtake Joe Biden.
Trump, who is a Republican, has described his call with Raffensperger as “perfect” and claimed that the investigation of the prosecutor, who is a Democrat, is politically motivated.
Here’s a look at some of the other prominent cases against Trump as the former president seeks the Republican nomination in the 2024 election:
Special counsel Jack Smith has led two federal investigations related to Trump, which have led to charges against the former president.
The first charges in those investigations emerged in June, when Trump was accused of improperly handling top-secret documents at his Florida estate. The legal document alleged that Trump repeatedly had employees and lawyers help him hide documents claimed by investigators and carelessly displayed a classified map and Pentagon “attack plan.”
An additional indictment in July added charges that Trump had requested the removal of security camera footage from his Mar-a-Lago property after FBI and Justice Department investigators visited the location in June 2022 to remove classified documents he had taken with him when he left the White House. The new document also charged him with illegally keeping a document he is believed to have displayed to visitors in New Jersey.
In all, Trump faces 40 indictments in the classified documents case. The most serious charge can carry up to 20 years in prison.
Walt Nauta, a Trump butler, and Carlos De Oliveira, a manager at Trump’s Florida estate, have been charged in that case with conspiring to hide security footage from federal investigators and lying about it.
Trump and Nauta have pleaded not guilty. De Oliveira was scheduled to be arraigned on Tuesday.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon has set a trial date of May 20, 2024. If the date is kept, the potential trial would not begin until well into the presidential nomination process and likely when the Republican nominee has already would be clear, even if that person is officially named at the Republican National Convention.
Smith’s second case against Trump came in August, when the former president was charged with criminal charges for attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election before his supporters’ violent insurrection at the US Capitol.
The four-count indictment includes conspiracy to defraud the United States government and conspiracy to obstruct an official process: the congressional certification of Biden’s victory. The text describes how Trump repeated to his followers and others that he had won the election, despite knowing that this was false, and how he tried to persuade state officials, Vice President Mike Pence, and finally Congress to reverse the results. legitimate.
After a week spreading lies about the election results, prosecutors allege that Trump tried to take advantage of the violence on Capitol Hill to present it as a reason to further delay the vote count that sealed his defeat.
In their charging briefs, prosecutors listed half a dozen unindicted co-conspirators, including attorneys inside and outside the government who they said had worked with Trump to overturn election results and raised questionable legality schemes to garner fake voters in battleground states. where Biden had won.
The Trump campaign dismissed those charges as “false” and asked why it took them two and a half years to file them.
Trump became the first former US president in history to face criminal charges when he was indicted in New York last March on charges stemming from payments to silence women during the 2016 presidential campaign and keeping allegations of relationships secret. extramarital
He pleaded guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records. Each charge was punishable by up to four years in prison, though it was not clear a judge would order prison terms if Trump was convicted.
The charges relate to a series of checks written out to his attorney Michael Cohen to reimburse porn actress Stormy Daniels, who said she had a sexual relationship with Trump in 2006, shortly after Melania Trump gave birth to her son. the couple’s son, Barron. These payments were recorded in various internal corporate documents as a legal cost that according to the prosecution did not exist.
The president’s next appearance in state court is set for January 4, before Republicans begin the formal nomination process for their candidate.
New York prosecutor Letitia James has sued Trump and the Trump Organization, accusing them of misleading banks and tax authorities about the value of assets such as golf courses and skyscrapers to get loans and tax breaks.
That lawsuit could result in civil penalties against the company if James, who is a Democrat, wins. She has called for a $250 million fine and for Trump to be barred from doing business in New York. The Manhattan district attorney’s office investigated the same allegations but did not file criminal charges.
There is a civil trial scheduled for October in state court.
In a separate case in New York federal court, Trump was found guilty in May of sexual assault and defamation against former columnist E. Jean Carroll in the mid-1990s. raped in a changing room.
Trump was ordered to pay $5 million to Carroll. He has appealed and strongly denied the allegations. In July, a federal judge upheld the jury verdict against Trump, rejecting the former president’s claims that the award was excessive.
FOUNTAIN: Associated Press
