Donald Trump charged for 2020 election meddling: All his criminal and civil cases tracked

It’s a good thing that former United States president Donald Trump is a rich man. His legal team must be having a tough time keeping up with all the cases and charges he’s facing. After all, the ex-president has now been twice impeached, twice arrested and now indicted three times. He will go down in history as the first president or former president to be indicted; it began in March, when Trump was charged with 34 felony counts in connection with hush money payments to a porn star. Less than three months later, he was indicted again – this time on 37 felony counts for mishandling classified documents and impeding investigators. And now comes the third indictment – he has been charged with plotting to overturn his 2020 election defeat. He is accused of four counts including conspiracy to defraud the United States, tampering with a witness and conspiracy against the rights of citizens. **Also read: Tough punisher of Capitol rioters: Tanya Chutkan, the judge in Trump’s latest election case** But this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Trump’s legal woes. A Georgia prosecutor is in the final stages of an investigation into his attempts to reverse the election results in that state. Trump is also set to face a second defamation trial brought by E Jean Carroll — the magazine writer who won a civil trial against him for sexual assault and defamation in May. Additionally, he faces a grab-bag of several other lawsuits that could hurt him – financially as well as reputation wise. It can’t be easy to keep track of all of Trump’s lawsuits and investigations and hence, we keep it straight for you. 6 January 2021 case in Washington Status: Indicted Trump has been charged in a federal investigation into efforts to overturn the result of the 2020 presidential elections. Following Joe Biden’s victory in the election, Trump and his advisers spread false information about voter fraud, urged Republican state officials to undermine the results in states that Biden won, assembled false slates of electors and pressured Mike Pence, the then vice president to unilaterally toss out the legitimate results. Following this, a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol and disrupted the peaceful transfer of power. [caption id=“attachment_12948472” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Supporters of US president Donald Trump cover their faces to protect from tear gas during a clash with police officers in front of the Capitol Building in Washington. File image/Reuters[/caption] After months and months of investigation, now special counsel Jack Smith has charged Trump with four federal crimes stemming from his attempts to derail the transfer of power. The indictment read: “The purpose of the conspiracy was to overturn the legitimate results of the 2020 presidential election by using knowingly false claims of election fraud to obstruct the federal government function by which those results are collected, counted and certified.” What are the potential punishments he could face? If found guilty, he faces up to five years in prison for conspiracy to defraud the US, a fine or up to 20 years in prison for obstructing an official proceeding and Conspiracy against rights is punishable by a fine or not more than 10 years in prison, or both. [caption id=“attachment_12948492” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] The former US president has denied any wrongdoing and called it “election interference” and comparing the Biden administration to Nazi Germany. AP[/caption] Trump’s defence: The former US president has denied any wrongdoing and on Tuesday said, “Why did they wait two-and-a-half years to bring these fake charges, right in the middle of President Trump’s winning campaign for 2024?” He further called it “election interference” and comparing the Biden administration to Nazi Germany.

Classified documents case in Florida Status: Indicted; trial to begin in May 2024 Donald Trump is facing 40 criminal for taking highly sensitive national security documents when he left the White House and stashed them haphazardly throughout his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. He also obstructed the government’s repeated attempts to retrieve them, prosecutors allege. [caption id=“attachment_12948512” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] A Trump supporter protests near the Trump National Golf Club after former US president Donald Trump said that FBI agents raided his Mar-a-Lago Palm Beach home. File image/Reuters[/caption] Walt Nauta, a valet for Trump, and Carlos De Oliveira, the property manager at Trump’s Florida estate, have been charged with scheming to conceal surveillance footage from federal investigators and lying about it. **Also read: Nuke docs, Pentagon’s ‘plan of attack’: What Trump took from White House** The prosecutor in the case is once again Jack Smith and he had earlier told the court that the trial against the former US president should begin on 11 December. But on 21 July, the judge announced that the trial in the matter would begin on 20 May 2024 – by which time the Republican primary will likely be over in which Trump is expected to come out on top. If the charges are held in court, Trump faces significant prison time. This is because the counts under the Espionage Act – the majority of the charges are under this law – carry a maximum sentence of 10 years. **Also read: Secret Documents Case: The charges that could spell doom for Donald Trump** Other counts, related to conspiracy and withholding or concealing documents, each carry maximum sentences of 20 years. Trump’s defence: The former US president has pleaded not guilty in the matter and has argued that the bulk of the documents had been declassified by him earlier.

Stormy Daniels Hush Money Status: Indicted; trial to be held on 25 March 2024 This was the case that started it all. With this, he became the first former president in American history to be criminally indicted and it pertains to hush money payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign to bury allegations of extramarital sexual encounters. [caption id=“attachment_12948562” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Stormy Daniels enters federal court in the Manhattan borough of New York City. File image/Reuters[/caption] Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen paid $130,000 to the adult film star Stormy Daniels to quash her story about having an extramarital affair with the former president. Trump has denied the affair took place. Prosecutors accuse the former president of illegally reimbursing Cohen for the hush-money payment by falsely classifying the transaction, executed by the Trump Organization, as legal expenses. If convicted, each of the charges carries a maximum of four years in prison and he’s facing a total of 34 felony counts in the matter. Legal experts have told the BBC that they think it’s unlikely that Trump will be jailed and it is more likely that he will be fined. **Also read: Will Donald Trump’s prosecution in hush money case help his 2024 US presidential bid?** Trump defence: The former US president has pleaded not guilty, denying he ever had any sexual relations with Stormy Daniels. When asked about the payments, he said they were more to protect his family than to sway the election.

Election tampering in Georgia Status: Investigation; indictment expected in the next few weeks For more than two years, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has been investigating whether Trump and his allies illegally meddled in the 2020 election in Georgia. And it seems that indictments will be announced against the former president this month. [caption id=“attachment_12948582” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Donald Trump is seen in front of a US flag in Dalton, Georgia. File image/Reuters[/caption] The investigations are pertaining to 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 for Trump to be declared the winner. While it’s not known what are the charges he will face, reports suggest racketeering as well as making false statements, and election fraud seem to be the likeliest. Trump’s defence: Trump has defended himself in the matter, calling the phone call in question as “perfect”. He has called the proceedings as a “clown show” and in March, his lawyers filed a motion asking that the office of Fani T Willis be disqualified from the case.

E Jean Carroll lawsuits Status: Liable in one case, another going to trial E Jean Carroll, a New York advice columnist, has filed two lawsuits against Trump. The first one comes after Trump labelled her a liar when she alleged that he had sexually assaulting her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the mid-1990s. [caption id=“attachment_12948602” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] E Jean Carroll reacts as she exits the Manhattan Federal Court following the verdict in the civil rape accusation case against former Donald Trump, in New York City. File image/Reuters[/caption] On 9 May, a jury ruled that Trump was liable for sexual assault and defamation, awarding Carroll $5 million in damages. Trump’s legal team is expected to appeal. A second defamation trial will begin in federal court in New York on 15 January 2024 — which will allow Carroll to amend her original civil suit against Trump to add the claims he made about her at a CNN town hall.

Business fraud in New York Status: Ongoing New York Attorney General Letitia James in September filed a lawsuit against Trump alleging that the businessman had committed fraud by misrepresenting his net worth and the valuations of several of his properties as a means to deceive banks and lenders. She is seeking $250 million and to permanently bar the Trumps from operating a business in New York State. **Also read: How Trump's indictment will affect the 2024 presidential race** According to a New York Times report, if James were to prevail at trial, a judge could impose steep financial penalties on Trump and restrict his business operations in New York. Besides these, Trump has other several legal cases pending. Interestingly, many of them have been brought by the former president himself against various entities. For instance, he has counter-sued his niece Mary Trump — and the New York Times — in 2021 in New York state court. With inputs from agencies