Donald Trump became the first former or serving U.S. president to face criminal charges when he was indicted in New York in April. Now he’s facing four indictments in four states, comprising almost 100 charges. Here’s where each case stands.
Date of Indictment: April 4, 2023
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Court: Manhattan State Supreme Court
Prosecutor: Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat
Judge: Acting State Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan
Charges: 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the first degree
Synopsis: Trump is charged under New York State law over $130,000 in hush-money payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels to buy her silence ahead of the 2016 election about an alleged 2006 sexual encounter. An NDA was signed by her, her lawyer Keith Davidson, and Trump fixer Michael Cohen. After The Wall Street Journal exposed the previously private pact, Cohen at first insisted he had paid Daniels out of his own pocket, and that Trump hadn’t directed him to do so—a claim he later disavowed under oath. Bragg alleges Trump’s intent was key to charging him at the felony level, saying that he cooked the books to hide the payments to Daniels, as well as his own later reimbursement of Cohen. (The Trump Organization reportedly logged Trump’s re-payments to Cohen as a business expense.) If Trump had properly documented the exchanges, he would have been essentially admitting to violating campaign finance law, according to Bragg, who said the payoffs illegally aided Trump’s candidacy by keeping his alleged behavior secret. Trump, who has pleaded not guilty, continues to maintain he never slept with Daniels.
Expected Trial Date: March 25, 2024
Trump’s Wins So Far: None.
Prosecutor’s Wins So Far: Trump’s attempt to move the case to federal court failed, and the federal judge’s order can now be used against him in Bragg’s case. He also tried, and failed, to have Judge Merchan recused from the case.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg discusses his indictment of former President Donald Trump.
Angela Weiss/AFP via GettyDate of Indictment: June 8, 2023, plus a superseding indictment on July 27
Court: Federal Court, Southern District of Florida
Prosecutor: Special Counsel Jack Smith
Judge: U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee.
Charges: 40 counts of willful retention of national defense information, withholding or concealing documents in a federal investigation, false statements, concealing records, and conspiracy to obstruct justice
Synopsis: Trump, along with his personal valet and a Mar-a-Lago property manager, faces charges he could have easily avoided in the first place. Upon leaving office, he hoarded, then refused to return, boxes upon boxes of government documents, including classified materials and highly sensitive military plans, according to prosecutors. Government secrets were stored in unauthorized spaces at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, including a bathroom, which was—obviously—not authorized by the federal government, the actual owner of the hoard. (Trump has tried to claim, wrongly, that what he brought with him from the White House was his to take.) He has since lashed out at Smith on social media as a “political hit man,” a “Trump Hater,” and an “unfair savage.”
Expected Trial Date: May 20, 2024
Trump’s Wins So Far: Cannon has issued favorable rulings for Trump, including rejecting Smith’s motion to keep certain grand jury materials under seal and striking entirely a pair of filings by prosecutors about potential conflicts of interest by Trump defense attorney Stanley Woodward. Cannon previously intervened in the case, appointing a special master to oversee Trump’s specious claims of privilege regarding materials the FBI seized at Mar-a-Lago during their investigation.
Prosecutor’s Wins So Far: Cannon’s special master ruling was tossed out by an appeals court early on. Then, in March, an appeals court panel ordered Evan Corcoran, one of the many lawyers Trump has cycled through, to turn over notes and voice memos from his work with Trump. Because the government had developed evidence Trump had used Corcoran’s legal advice to advance a criminal scheme, the usual attorney-client privileges were nullified under the crime-fraud exception.
Boxes of documents stacked in the White and Gold Ballroom of former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate.
GettyDate of Indictment: Aug. 1, 2023
Court: Federal Court, District of Washington, D.C.
Prosecutor: Special Counsel Jack Smith
Judge: U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, appointed by Barack Obama
Charges: Four counts of conspiracy to defraud the U.S., conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, conspiracy against rights.
Synopsis: An indictment handed down by a D.C. grand jury detailed a frantic effort in the waning months of 2020 by Trump and a half-dozen as-yet uncharged co-conspirators to block then-President-Elect Biden from ascending to the Oval Office. The former president lied to the American public about a supposedly “stolen election,” while attempting to twist the U.S. legal system to his own ends, according to Smith. After losing challenge after challenge in court, Trump ultimately sought to exploit the violence unleashed by his followers during the Capitol riot as a last-ditch attempt at clinging to power, the indictment says. Trump claims he was merely expressing his First Amendment right to freedom of speech in claiming the election had been rigged, an argument Smith has called disingenuous.
Expected Trial Date: Jan. 2, 2024
Trump’s Wins So Far: Chutkan delivered a partial win for Trump by denying prosecutors the broad protective order they sought in an attempt to keep the former president from publicly exposing discovery materials shared by Smith’s team.
Prosecutor’s Wins So Far: Trump has attempted to get the trial delayed until after the 2024 election. However, the Jan. 2 date—while not set in stone—was endorsed by 11 former Republican-appointed judges and prosecutors, including George W. Bush’s attorney general, Alberto Gonzales. In April, Trump’s bid to block grand jury testimony from witnesses, including former VP Mike Pence, was shot down.
Special Counsel Jack Smith
Mandel Ngan/GettyDate of Indictment: Aug. 14, 2023
Court: Fulton County Superior Court
Prosecutor: Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, elected Democrat
Judge: Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee
Charges: 12 counts, including violation of Georgia’s RICO Act, three counts of solicitation of violation of oath by public officer, conspiracy to impersonate a public officer, two counts of conspiracy to commit forgery in the first degree, two counts of conspiracy to commit false statements, conspiracy to file false documents, filing false documents, and making false statements.
Synopsis: Trump is facing state-level charges in Georgia stemming in large part from what he continues to dub a “perfect phone call,” a description to which Willis—as well as a grand jury—takes more than a bit of exception. Following Trump’s 2020 electoral loss, he dialed up Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, and leaned on him to “find 11,780 votes,” thus handing him the state and another presidential term. Trump is also accused of plotting to assemble a slate of fake electors to undo Biden’s rightful win; multiple witnesses have testified before the Georgia grand jury in recent months. Trump, as is his wont, has bellyached loudly about Willis being a “racist,” and made up, apparently out of whole cloth, a fictitious tale about Willis having had an affair with a gang member. Along with Trump, 18 others are charged in connection with the alleged scheme.
Expected Trial Date: To be determined
Trump’s Wins So Far: None.
Prosecutor’s Wins So Far: In July, Trump lost a bid to shut down Willis’ investigation over supposed procedural violations. In early August, Trump was handed another defeat when he tried and failed to get grand jury evidence thrown out and Willis removed from the case.
