US president-elect Trump’s criminal and civil cases
Jan 10 (Reuters) – Donald Trump‘s sentencing in his New York criminal case on Friday closes out a series of prosecutions that he largely beat by retaking the U.S. presidency, though he is still fighting to avoid paying hundreds of millions of…
From the Forelines news archive. This report was published on 10 January 2025, before Forelines moved its focus to research and analysis. See our latest research →
Jan 10 (Reuters) – Donald Trump‘s sentencing in his New York criminal case on Friday closes out a series of prosecutions that he largely beat by retaking the U.S. presidency, though he is still fighting to avoid paying hundreds of millions of dollars for losses in civil lawsuits.
Here is a look at the cases against the president-elect and where they stand ahead of his Jan. 20 inauguration.
NEW YORK HUSH MONEY CASE
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg charged Trump in March 2023 with illegally falsifying business records to cover up an alleged affair with a porn star. A jury convicted him of 34 felony counts in May 2024. The judge overseeing the case indicated he does not plan to send Trump to prison. But by granting an unconditional discharge, he would place a judgment of guilt on Trump’s permanent record.
Trump has denied wrongdoing and has vowed to appeal. The conviction could be thrown out by an appeals court even after he is sentenced.
GEORGIA ELECTION SUBVERSION CASE
Trump and 18 of his allies were charged in 2023 in what prosecutors alleged was a sprawling conspiracy to undo Trump’s defeat in the battleground state of Georgia in the 2020 election.
The prosecution stalled after an appeals court disqualified the district attorney in the case over her undisclosed affair with the lead prosecutor on the case, but it could potentially go forward under a new prosecutor.
FLORIDA CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS CASE
Federal prosecutors overseen by U.S. Special Counsel Jack Smith charged Trump and two associates in June 2023 with allegedly mishandling classified documents after Trump left office.
A judge dismissed the case in 2024, and the U.S. Department of Justice dropped its appeal of that ruling pertaining to Trump after he won the 2024 election because department policy bars federal prosecutors from prosecuting sitting presidents.
WASHINGTON, D.C., ELECTION SUBVERSION CASE
Smith separately charged Trump in Washington, D.C., in August 2023 over his efforts to undo his 2020 election loss. A judge dismissed the case in November after Smith said it could not go forward while Trump was president.
NEW YORK CIVIL FRAUD CASE
In September 2023, a New York judge found Trump liable for fraud for inflating his net worth to dupe lenders and later ordered him to pay $454 million in penalties, an amount that has since grown with interest.
Trump has denied wrongdoing and is appealing.
E. JEAN CARROLL SEXUAL ABUSE, DEFAMATION CIVIL CASES
Trump was found liable for defaming and sexually abusing writer E. Jean Carroll in two separate lawsuits over an alleged incident in the 1990s where Carroll said Trump assaulted her in a Manhattan department store. Juries ordered Trump to pay Carroll a total of more than $88 million in damages.
Trump has denied assaulting or defaming Carroll and is appealing.
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