A Guide to the Criminal Cases Against Donald Trump
This story was updated on July 16, 2024, to reflect new developments.
A federal judge dismissed one of three remaining criminal cases against former President Donald Trump in mid-July, ruling that the special counsel who filed the charges was not properly appointed.
This latest legal victory for Trump came after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 6-3 decision earlier in July that the former president had immunity from prosecution for some actions taken while in office. That ruling had major implications for the federal government’s criminal case against Trump on charges he plotted to overturn the 2020 election and was expected to further delay that trial.
Trump, the presumed 2024 Republican presidential nominee, in late May became the first former president of the United States to be convicted of a felony. The historic conviction came after the jury in a New York trial found Trump guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to conceal a “hush money” payment made to an adult film star to prevent a scandal from circulating during the 2016 presidential campaign.
With one conviction and one case’s dismissal — which is likely to be appealed — Trump now faces two remaining criminal cases, in which he has been charged on a total of 14 felony counts.
As FRONTLINE examines in the documentary Democracy on Trial, some of those charges against Trump stem from his election loss in 2020 and his role in widespread efforts to overturn the results.
The former president has pleaded not guilty to the remaining charges against him. Trump has insisted that the cases are politically motivated and his lawyers argued that presidents have absolute immunity from prosecution for actions taken while in office.
“Trump’s best strategy right now is delay,” David French, a conservative columnist for The New York Times told FRONTLINE in the documentary. “Because he’s a very unusual defendant in terms of his potential power. If he wins the election, he can just order the DOJ to drop the case entirely. So he has an enormous personal incentive to win the presidency just to get himself out of legal jeopardy.”
Here are key details of the criminal cases against the former president.
The New York State “Hush Money” Case
Date Indicted March 30, 2023
Scheduled Trial Date The trial was scheduled to begin on March 25, 2024, but was moved to April 15.
Court New York State Supreme Court
Judge Overseeing New York Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan
Person Leading the Investigation Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg
Charges 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree
What Is the Case About? A grand jury voted to indict Trump, making him the first former U.S. president to be criminally charged and marking the beginning of a series of indictments against the former president.
The indictment accuses Trump of falsifying business records in connection to a payment made during the final weeks of the 2016 presidential campaign to adult film star Stormy Daniels, who had threatened to reveal what she said was a 2006 sexual encounter with Trump. The case alleges that Daniels was paid $130,000 by Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen in October 2016 in exchange for her silence. According to prosecutors, Trump then reimbursed Cohen in installment payments through his company, the Trump Organization, under a false retainer agreement after he won the presidency. In addition to the “hush money” payments made to Daniels, Trump is also charged in connection with payments made to Playboy model Karen McDougal and a doorman to prevent scandals from circulating during the 2016 campaign period.
In New York, falsifying business records counts as a felony, rather than a misdemeanor, only if the defendant had an intent of committing or concealing a separate underlying crime. The Manhattan district office charged the former president with a low-level felony, which carries a maximum of four years in prison for each count. The indictment alleged that Trump falsified business records to “conceal criminal activity, including attempts to violate state and federal election laws,” but did not specify a particular underlying crime. In recent interviews, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg has described the case as an “election interference case” that is about “conspiring to corrupt a presidential election” by concealing damaging information ahead of the vote.
Trump’s Defense Trump, who has denied having an affair with Daniels and said that the payment to her was not campaign related, has pleaded not guilty. He accused Bragg of being a “racist” and conducting a “witch hunt” against him. Trump’s legal team sought to have the judge on the case removed, alleging a conflict of interest; the judge declined to recuse himself, saying “this Court … is certain in its ability to be fair and impartial.” Trump’s legal team dropped an appeal to move the case from a state court that Trump says is “very unfair” to him to federal court.
The Verdict On May 30, 2024, the jury found Trump guilty on 34 felony counts. Trump denounced the trial as a “disgrace” after the verdict and said he’s a “very innocent man.” Following the Supreme Court’s July 2024 ruling on presidential immunity, Trump’s lawyers asked the judge for a delay in sentencing, which was granted, and urged the judge to vacate the jury’s verdict and dismiss the case.
The Federal Classified Documents Case
Date Indicted June 8, 2023, and July 27, 2023, when special counsel Jack Smith’s team charged Trump with three more counts
Scheduled Trial Date The trial was initially scheduled to begin on May 20, 2024. After a hearing in March 2024 to pick a new trial date, the judge overseeing the case has yet to make a decision.
Court U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida
Judge Overseeing U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon
Person Leading the Investigation Special counsel Jack Smith
Charges 32 counts of willful retention of national defense information, 1 count of conspiracy to obstruct justice, 3 counts of withholding or concealing a document, 2 counts of false statements, and 2 counts of altering, destroying, mutilating or concealing an object or record
What Is the Case About? Trump was indicted by a federal grand jury, making him the first former president to face federal charges. The indictment accuses Trump of taking highly sensitive national security documents when he left the White House in January 2021 and resisting the government’s repeated attempts to retrieve them.
According to the indictment, the National Archives and Records Administration repeatedly demanded that the former president return all missing presidential records, which prosecutors allege Trump refused to do. In August 2022, FBI agents recovered more than 100 classified documents from Trump’s Florida estate at Mar-a-Lago. In addition to showing the classified documents to people who didn’t have security clearance, the former president — federal prosecutors alleged — stashed the papers in improper locations throughout his Mar-a-Lago resort, including in a “ballroom, a bathroom and shower, and office space, his bedroom, and a storage room.” The documents, prosecutors say, include sensitive information on the country’s nuclear programs, potential vulnerabilities to a military attack, and plans for possible retaliation in case of foreign attacks. Trump’s aide Walt Nauta and his property manager Carlos De Oliveira were named as co-conspirators and charged in the case.
The indictment alleges that the disclosure of these documents could have put the country’s safety and national security at risk. Each count of making false statements can lead to five years in prison, while each count of willful retention of national defense information is punishable by up to 10 years. Each count of conspiracy to obstruct justice, withholding documents, and altering, destroying, mutilating or concealing records could result in 20 years imprisonment.
Trump’s Defense Trump, as well as his associates Nauta and De Oliveira, have pleaded not guilty. In a motion filed in January 2024, Trump’s lawyers said that they intend to prove the records were stored in secure locations at the Mar-a-Lago estate and that the case was “politically motivated and biased” and intended to harm Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign. In March 2024, a federal judge rejected a motion by Trump to throw out the case.
Case Dismissed In a decision that is likely to be appealed, Judge Cannon dismissed the classified documents case, according to a court filing on July 15, 2024, ruling that Smith’s appointment as special counsel violated the Constitution.
The Federal Election Interference Case
Date Indicted August 1, 2023
Scheduled Trial Date The trial was initially scheduled for March 4, 2024, but was postponed while Trump appealed a decision about his immunity claims. The Supreme Court’s July 2024 ruling on the former president’s immunity is likely to delay the trial further. While the majority’s opinion stated that Trump was “absolutely immune” from prosecution for his conversations with officials at the Justice Department, the district court judge in charge of the case must now evaluate which of Trump’s other alleged actions described in the indictment were official and which were not, and thus might still subject to prosecution. The three liberal justices dissented and Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote, “The relationship between the President and the people he serves has shifted irrevocably. In every use of official power, the President is now a king above the law.”
Court U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
Judge Overseeing U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan
Person Leading the Investigation Special counsel Jack Smith
Charges 2 counts related to obstructing an official proceeding and conspiring to obstruct an official proceeding, 1 count of conspiracy to defraud the United States government, and 1 count of conspiracy to violate rights
What Is the Case About? More than two-and-a-half years after violence erupted at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, special counsel Jack Smith indicted Trump for his alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election and disrupt the certification of the electoral vote so he could remain in power. Prosecutors argued that Trump’s actions were an attack on American democracy’s centuries-old tradition of the peaceful transfer of power.
Among the charges Trump faces, the count of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government refers to the alleged undermining of the government’s counting of the votes, the count of obstructing an “official proceeding” refers to the disruption of the Jan. 6 election certification at the Capitol, and the count of conspiracy to violate rights refers to the allegation that Trump denied voters the right to have their votes counted.
The indictment alleges that, in the two months between the November 2020 election and Jan. 6, Trump spread claims of electoral fraud that he knew were false, having been told by multiple officials, both from the Justice Department and his campaign team, that he in fact lost the election. He is accused of pressuring the Justice Department to support those false claims. The indictment also alleges that he took part in a scheme involving false slates of electors and pressured Republican state officials, as well as then-Vice President Mike Pence, to overturn the electoral results. Although federal prosecutors didn’t charge Trump with directly inciting the pro-Trump mob attack at the capitol, they said that Trump exploited the violence to try to subvert Joe Biden’s victory. Six co-conspirators were referenced in the indictment, but Trump is the only person who has been charged.
Trump’s Defense Trump has pleaded not guilty. Trump has said it was his decision to believe the election was “rigged,” and that he did not respect the lawyers on his team who told him he had lost the election. The trial court judge in Washington, D.C., threw out a motion by Trump’s lawyers to dismiss the case on the grounds that presidents should have absolute immunity from prosecution for actions taken while in office. On Feb. 6, a federal appeals court rejected Trump’s immunity claim and said he could be prosecuted. The former president is expected to continue to appeal up to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Last October, the judge overseeing the case imposed a gag order on Trump banning him from making public statements attacking witnesses and officials involved in the case, citing concerns that his comments could spur violence from his supporters. Trump argued that the order violated his First Amendment rights. An appeals court panel in December upheld the order but revised it to allow statements critical of Smith, as well as witnesses in some contexts. In January 2024, the full federal appeals court rejected Trump’s bid to lift the order, leaving appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court his last remaining option.
The Georgia Election Interference Case
Date Indicted August 14, 2023
Scheduled Trial Date The case was halted by the Georgia Court of Appeals on June 5 while the appeals court considers a ruling that allows Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to stay on the case.
Court Fulton County Superior Court
Judge Overseeing Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee
Person Leading the Investigation Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis
Charges 1 count related to violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, 6 counts related to false statements and documents, 2 counts of conspiracy to commit forgery in the first degree, 4 counts related to soliciting or impersonating public officers
What Is the Case About? The indictment lists 41 charges — 13 of which are against Trump — and 18 other defendants, alleging that they attempted to unlawfully overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia and subvert the voters’ will. The indictment charges Trump and his associates with a violation of the state’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, a law that allows prosecutors to link different crimes by various people if those crimes were carried out for one corrupt enterprise. The Georgia indictment also accuses Trump of being at the top of the alleged racketeering activity.
The indictment alleges that Trump and his associates spread false claims about voter fraud, plotted to create fake pro-Trump electors, and urged Georgia officials to overturn Joe Biden’s win. One of the key incidents referenced in the indictment is a recorded phone call with Brad Raffensperger, Georgia’s secretary of state, in which Trump can be heard asking the official to “find 11,780 votes,” the number he needed to defeat Biden in the state of Georgia.
In March 2024, a judge threw out six of the original 41 charges against Trump and the other defendants, bringing the charges Trump faces down to 10 instead of 13.
Trump’s Defense Trump has pleaded not guilty. He has described the phone call with Raffensperger as “perfect.” Similar to the federal election interference case, Trump has sought presidential immunity and asked the Georgia court to dismiss the charges in a motion filed in January 2024. In the same month, Michael Roman, one of Trump’s co-defendants, filed a motion accusing Willis of having a romantic relationship with Nathan Wade, the case’s lead prosecutor. In a court filing on Feb. 2, Willis acknowledged a “personal relationship” with Wade, but argued that there were no grounds to remove her from the case. In response to claims of a conflict of interest, Wade said none of the money he made on the job was shared with Willis. Trump responded to Willis’ acknowledgement of the relationship, posting on the platform Truth Social that the case was a “hoax” so Willis and Wade could interfere in the 2024 election. Trump’s lead attorney in the case, Steve Sadow, said that although Willis has admitted to the relationship, she failed to provide “full transparency and necessary financial details.”
In mid-March, Wade resigned as special prosecutor to “move this case forward as quickly as possible” after Judge Scott McAfee said that Willis and her office could only keep the case if he stepped down. A few days later, Judge McAfee gave Trump and the other defendants permission to appeal the ruling allowing Willis to remain on the case.
Four of the 18 other defendants have already pleaded guilty. If Trump were found guilty in this case, he would not be able to pardon himself if re-elected as president since he would have violated a Georgia state law, not a federal law.
Priyanka Boghani and Patrice Taddonio have contributed updates to this story.
Watch the full documentary Democracy on Trial:
