Trump charged: What’s the latest on the ex-president’s legal cases

There are three separate criminal investigations into former President Donald Trump. Here’s how the three compare.

Donald Trump is facing charges in Georgia, New York, Florida and Washington. Additionally, several civil cases are either pending or underway seeking financial damages from the former president.

Trump is currently the front runner for the Republican nomination for president, meaning he will be campaigning as the cases wind through the courts.

Here’s how the criminal cases compare:

What they allegedly involve:

Georgia: Efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 election in Georgia.

Florida: This U.S. Department of Justice case involves the mishandling of classified documents Trump took with him from the White House to Mar-a-Lago, his Florida estate, after leaving office.

Washington: Also led by DOJ, this case investigated Trump’s efforts in a number of swing states to overturn the results of 2020 election, which he lost to Democrat Joe Biden, and how they helped lead to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

New York: Hush money paid to former porn star Stormy Daniels as well as other business irregularities.

What are the charges?:

Atlanta DA Fani Willis answers questions for the press after the indictment of former President Trump and 18 others at Fulton County Courthouse on Monday, August 14, 2023 in Atlanta. (Michael Blackshire/Michael.blackshire@ajc.com)

Credit: Michael Blackshire

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Credit: Michael Blackshire

Georgia: In Fulton County, Trump was charged with violating the state’s Racketeer Influence and Corrupt Organizations act, known as RICO. He was also charged with 12 other felonies, including solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer and conspiracy to commit forgery. Eighteen others were charged in the indictment for being part of the alleged criminal enterprise. The 97-page indictment includes 41 felony counts in all and also lists 30 unindicted co-conspirators.

Florida: Trump was charged with 40 felony counts in Miami related to his mishandling of classified documents. They included violating the Espionage Act, obstructing justice and making false statements. Trump’s personal aide, Walt Nauta, and another Mar-a-Lago employee Carlos De Oliveira, were also charged.

Washington: A four-count indictment charged Trump with conspiracy to defraud the United States, witness tampering and conspiracy against the rights of citizens and an attempt to obstruct an official proceeding. The charging document also lists six co-conspirators but does not name them.

New York: Trump was charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. Prosecutors allege Trump created fictitious records to pay off Daniels $130,000 in October 2016 after she threatened to expose their alleged affair in advance of the 2016 presidential election.

What’s the timing?

Georgia: Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis announced the charges in August. Since then, four of the 19 defendants have pleaded guilty and are cooperating with prosecutors. Willis has asked that the trial for the remaining defendants - including Trump - begin Aug. 5, just three weeks after the Republican National Convention and three months before the general election. Trump’s legal team has opposed that time frame saying it would interfere with Trump’s ability to campaign for the White House. A trial date has not been set.

Florida: U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, has scheduled the trial to begin in May. The former president’s lawyers have said they need more time to review large amounts of classified material. Cannon has said she will make a decision in March on whether to postpone the trial.

Washington: Motions and appeals have been flying back and forth in this case, which is set to go to trial on March 4. Staring down a possible delay, special counsel Jack Smith took the unusual step of asking the U.S. Supreme Court to step in and decide a key issue: whether Trump has presidential immunity. That would avoid a lengthy back-and-forth in the lower courts. The high court has said it would consider the motion on an expedited basis whether to hear the case.

New York: A March 25 trial date has been set but the judge in the case has indicated he is willing to move the case if needed to avoid conflicts with other criminal cases. He has said he will consider the timing in February,

Who are the witnesses?

Georgia: Vice President Mike Pence; ex-Attorney General Bill Barr; onetime Justice Department officials Jeffrey Rosen and Richard Donoghue; U.S. Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania; and Steve Bannon, the conservative provocateur are all on a witness list prepared by prosecutors. The list also includes top Georgia Republicans, such as Gov. Brian Kemp, Attorney General Chris Carr, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and former Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan. The names were shared with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution by people who have reviewed the list.

August 17, 2022 Atlanta - Rudy Giuliani arrives to testify for the special grand jury at Fulton County Courthouse in Atlanta on Wednesday, August 17, 2022. (Hyosub Shin / Hyosub.Shin@ajc.com)

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

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Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

Florida: A who’s who of the Trump administration testified before a grand jury, including former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and former Vice President Mike Pence.

Washington: DOJ special counsel Jack Smith heard from Vice President Mike Pence and many other witnesses. He gave Trump four days to appear before a grand jury considering charges but Trump elected not to testify.

New York: A grand jury in Manhattan heard from Trump’s former fixer and lawyer, Michael Cohen, and Robert Costello, another Trump lawyer. Cohen had spent more than a year in prison and another year and a half in home confinement after pleading guilty in connection to the hush money payments.

Who are the prosecutors?

Georgia: Willis took office in 2021 after an upset win over her former boss, Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard. She was the lead prosecutor in the Atlanta Public Schools test-cheating scandal, in which educators in the city were convicted in a scheme to illegally boost student test scores. She is the first woman to hold the DA’s seat in Fulton County.

Florida and Washington: In November 2022, Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Smith as special counsel to oversee the probes involving Trump. Smith worked in various positions within the Justice Department, including as an assistant U.S. attorney in New York and leading the vaunted Public Integrity Section. Smith also worked as vice president of litigation for the Hospital Corporation of America before becoming chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

Jack Smith, the special counsel, delivers remarks about the indictment of former President Donald Trump in Washington, June 9, 2023.(Kenny Holston/The New York Times)

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New York: Bragg was elected in 2022, becoming Manhattan’s first Black district attorney. In his role as an assistant attorney general in New York, he frequently clashed with Trump over civil matters. He was also assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.

What has Trump said?

Georgia: In a document filed by his attorney, Trump pleaded not guilty. The former president has called his Jan. 2, 2021 phone call with Raffensperger “perfect.” He has labeled Willis a racist and accused her of ignoring violent crime while she pursed a political witch hunt. A pro-Trump group ran a minute-long ad, titled “The Fraud Squad,” in Atlanta media markets which, among other things, accused Willis of having an affair with a former client. In a memo to staff, Willis called the charges “derogatory and false.

Florida: In federal court in Miami, on June 13 , Trump pleaded not guilty. Ahead of the indictment, Trump’s campaign claimed he was being attacked by “rabid wolves.” His campaign released a video stating that the “radical left” hates the former president because of his role in appointing justices to the Supreme Court who were key votes in overturning Roe v. Wade, exposing the “deep state” and draining “their precious swamp.”

Washington: Trump pleaded not guilty in Washington on Aug. 3. In a post announcing that he had received a target letter from federal prosecutors Trump labeled Smith “deranged” and accused him of a political witch hunt. U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan in October issued a gag order barring Trump from publicly attacking witnesses, prosecutors and court staff involved in the case. Chutkan was named to the bench by former President Barack Obama.

New York: Trump appeared in a Manhattan courtroom on April 4 and pleaded not guilty. Trump has attacked Bragg, calling him a “racist” and accusing him of leading a politically motivated prosecution.

What about the civil cases?

New York fraud trial:

After 11 weeks, testimony in the civil fraud trial of Trump concluded on Dec. 13. It arose from a $250 million civil lawsuit New York Attorney Genera Letitia James filed in 2022 against Trump, his family and associates alleging they manipulated the value of his eponymous real estate company using false financial statements and improper valuation of real estate assets.

New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron has already decided Trump is liable for committing fraud. He must now determine how much he must pay. Engoron has scheduled closing arguments for January and said he will issue a verdict soon after that.

Credit: NYT

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Credit: NYT

Trump has clashed repeatedly with the judge. When the former president took the stand in November, Engoron implored Trump’s lawyers to control their client. The judge also placed Trump under a gag to prevent him from continuing to publicly attack his court clerk.

E. Jean Carroll

In May, a jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing advice columnist E. Jean Carroll in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in Manhattan in the mid-1990s. They awarded her $5 million in damages.

A trial is set to get underway in January in a defamation case Carroll filed against Trump. A court rejected Trump’s attempt to invoke an immunity defense. A federal judge has already rueld hat Trump defamed Carroll. The trial will assess damages.