Donald Trump’s racketeering indictment in Georgia is only the latest legal quagmire the former U.S. president has landed in as he tries to secure the Republican nomination and run in the 2024 election. Here’s what the 77-year-old and his associates are accused of in various U.S. courts. He denies wrongdoing in each case.
Former U.S. president Donald Trump makes his way inside the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse in New York on April 4.ED JONES/AFP/Getty Images
Georgia election-tampering criminal probe
The case: Trump was hit on Aug. 14 with a sweeping fourth set of criminal charges, when a Georgia grand jury issued an indictment accusing him of efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden.
The details: The sprawling indictment lists 19 defendants and 41 felony counts in all. All were charged with racketeering, which is used to target members of organized crime groups and carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison.
Counts against Trump include violation of the state’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer, conspiracy to commit forgery in the first degree, conspiracy to commit impersonating a public officer, and conspiracy to commit filing false documents.
Other defendants include Mark Meadows, Trump’s former White House chief of staff, and lawyers Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman.
What’s next: District attorney Fani Willis said the grand jury had approved arrest warrants for the 19 people indicted and they would have until Friday, Aug. 25, at noon to turn themselves in. Her aim is to start a trial within six months, she said.
Jan. 6 and the U.S. Capitol attack
The case: On Aug. 3, Trump pleaded not guilty to charges in Washington federal court that he conspired to defraud the U.S. by preventing Congress from certifying Biden’s victory over Trump and to deprive voters of their right to a fair election.
The details: On Jan. 6, 2021, Trump supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol in a failed bid to prevent certification of Biden’s victory. Prosecutors said Trump exploited the attack, refusing advice he send a message directing rioters to leave.
Trump and his allies advanced claims of fraud they knew to be untrue, prosecutors said. The indictment says close advisers, including senior intelligence officials, told Trump repeatedly that the election results were legitimate.
Trump and others organized fraudulent slates of electors in seven U.S. states, all of which he lost, to submit their votes to be counted and certified as official by Congress on Jan. 6, the indictment said.
What’s next: The next hearing is set to take place Aug. 28, 2023.
Illegal retention of classified documents
The case: In a Miami federal courtroom, Trump pleaded not guilty on June 13 to charges that he unlawfully kept classified national security documents when he left office in 2021 and lied to officials who sought to recover them.
The details: Special Counsel Jack Smith accuses Trump of risking national secrets by taking thousands of sensitive papers with him when he left the White House in January 2021 and storing them in a haphazard manner at his Mar-a-Lago Florida estate and his New Jersey golf club, according to the indictment.
Photos included in the indictment show boxes of documents at Mar-a-Lago stored on a ballroom stage, in a bathroom and strewn across a storage-room floor.
Those records included information about the secretive U.S. nuclear program and potential vulnerabilities in the event of an attack, the indictment said.
Trump faces charges that include violations of the Espionage Act, which criminalizes unauthorized possession of defense information, and conspiracy to obstruct justice.
Also charged are Trump’s aide Walt Nauta and another Trump employee, Carlos De Oliveira, the latter with attempting to delete security camera footage at Mar-a-Lago after a grand jury subpoenaed the videos in June 2022.
Prosecutors allege De Oliveira told another employee that “the boss” wanted a server containing security footage to be deleted. He has yet to enter a plea. Nauta pleaded not guilty.
What’s next: The trial is scheduled for May 20, 2024.
This image, contained in the indictment against former President Donald Trump, shows boxes of records stored in a bathroom and shower in the Lake Room at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla.The Associated Press
New York ‘hush money’ criminal case
The case: A New York grand jury indicted Trump in March for allegedly falsifying business records in connection with a hush-money payment to a porn star before the 2016 presidential election.
The details: Trump’s former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, paid Stormy Daniels $130,000 for her silence about a sexual encounter she said she had with Trump in 2006. Prosecutors in Manhattan accuse Trump of trying to conceal a violation of election laws.
Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records. He has denied having a sexual encounter with Daniels but in 2018, admitted to reimbursing Cohen for his payment to her.
Cohen pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations and other crimes and was sentenced to three years in prison in 2018 during Trump’s presidency.
What’s next: Trump’s criminal trial is scheduled for March 25, 2024.
Sexual abuse and defamation civil lawsuits
The case: Trump is appealing a $5-million verdict by a Manhattan federal jury that found him liable for sexually abusing writer E. Jean Carroll. This past May, Carroll won a civil trial against Trump that accused him of sexually abusing her in the 1990s.
The details: Carroll is seeking at least $10 million more in a separate defamation lawsuit she amended after Trump blasted the verdict on CNN and on his social media platform in 2022. He has denied meeting Carroll and accused her of making up her allegations.
What’s next: A trial in that case is scheduled for Jan. 15, 2024, which Trump wants delayed due to his separate appeal to dismiss it
New York Attorney-General civil lawsuit
The case: This past September, New York Attorney-General Letitia James sued Trump and his family business, the Trump Organization, for alleged fraud by him and his family.
The details: James, a Democrat, accuses Trump of lying from 2011 to 2021 about asset values, including for his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and Trump Tower penthouse in Manhattan, as well as his own net worth, to obtain better terms from lenders and insurers.
The lawsuit seeks at least $250 million in damages from Trump, his adult sons Donald Jr and Eric, the Trump Organization and others, and to stop the Trumps from running businesses in New York.
What’s next: A trial is scheduled for Oct. 2, 2023, a date the judge has said is “set in stone.” James’ office said on July 31 it had finished gathering evidence and is ready for trial.