Donald Trump: the 4 big legal problems that the former president must face

Donald Trump became the first former president of USA to face criminal charges for alleged secret money payments made to a porn star just before the 2016 presidential election.

But he’s also facing numerous lawsuits, so it can be hard to keep track of the investigations against him.

Look: Trump’s lawyer says he will not be handcuffed upon arrival at court

Here are four processes that could have the biggest impact on him both personally and politically.

1. Payments to Stormy Daniels and the Trump Organization

A grand jury voted to indict the former president after New York prosecutors investigated a $130,000 payment to former adult film star Stormy Daniels.

Stormy Daniels claims to have been paid $130,000 not to talk about her relationship with Trump.

The charges have not yet been made public. Daniels claims that she and the president had a sexual relationship and that she accepted money offered by Michael Cohen, who was a lawyer for Trump, before the 2016 election in exchange for her silence about the encounter.

Trump has always denied that they had sex.

In any case, the payment to Daniels itself wouldn’t be illegal, but Trump apparently recorded it as an expense from his business. In New York, falsifying business information is illegal.

Meanwhile, the Trump Organization’s business practices are also being scrutinized by prosecutors.

Letitia James, New York’s attorney general, is leading a civil investigation (which cannot lead to criminal charges) and has spent years scrutinizing whether the company committed various acts of fraud over the decades.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is leading a criminal investigation and looking into similar issues.

What has Trump said?

Trump on Thursday described the prosecution in the Stormy Daniels case as “political persecution” and said he does not expect a fair trial.

He is scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday, where he will be notified of the charges.

Separately, the former president and his lawyers have insisted that the allegations against the Trump Organization are politically motivated.

Trump has repeatedly criticized both James and Bragg.

How serious is the case?

Although the details of the charges in the Stormy Daniels case have not yet been released, it will be the first criminal case to be filed against a former president of the United States.

Criminal investigation into the Trump Organization has already yielded convictions. The company was convicted in December of fraud and falsifying business records and fined $1.6 million. Allen Weisselberg, the organization’s chief financial officer, was sentenced to five months in jail in January.

Last January, the court sentenced the financial director of the Trump Organization, Allen Weisselberg, to prison.

In the civil case, James filed a lawsuit against Trump and three of his children, accusing them of fraud and deception.

Lawsuit alleges family inflated his net worth by billions and is seeking $250 million that was allegedly obtained through fraudulent means. He also wants to bar Trump and his children from playing a leadership role in any New York company.

A Manhattan judge has denied Trump’s attempt to delay the trial, saying the scheduled Oct. 2 date is “set in stone.”

2. The classified documents found in Mar-a-Lago

The Department of Justice (DOJ) is investigating the discovery of White House government documents at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s Florida property and residence. Investigators are evaluating how these documents were stored and who may have had access to them.

In August 2022, there was a large security deployment at Mar a Lago due to the raid carried out by the FBI.

The former president’s beachside property was searched in August 2022 and 11,000 documents were seized, including around 100 marked as classified. Some of these were labeled top secret.

Until now, very little is known about what is in the documents found. But classified material typically contains information that officials believe could harm national security if made public.

What has Trump said?

Trump denied any wrongdoing and criticized the Justice Department’s investigation, saying it was “politically motivated” and calling it a “witch hunt.”

The former president has used different explanations to defend himself that have been based mainly on the argument that he declassified the material. No evidence has yet been provided that this is true.

Trump has also argued that some of the documents are protected by “executive privilege.”, a legal concept that would prevent them from being used in future proceedings. An independent expert is reviewing the seized material to determine if this is the case and if that process continues.

But Trump has not directly answered the key question of why the documents were at Mar-a-Lago in the first place.

How serious is the case?

This is an active criminal investigation and could result in the filing of charges.

The FBI raid on Mar a Lago was authorized by a judge.

Among other rules, Justice Department believes Trump may have violated the Espionage Act by keeping national security information that “could be used to the detriment of the United States.”

In addition to charges related to the classified documents themselves, prosecutors are also considering obstruction of justice as another possible offense.

Trump’s team is now locked in a legal battle with the Justice Department over this investigation.

The DOJ has appointed Jack Smith, an independent attorney or special counsel, to oversee all of its criminal investigations into Trump. Smith will ultimately decide if he press charges.

3. The assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021

Several federal government agencies are investigating Trump’s alleged role in the attack on the Capitol that occurred on January 6, 2021, when a mob of his supporters stormed the headquarters of Congress in an effort to stop confirmation of the president’s electoral victory. Joe Biden.

On January 6, 2021, Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol.

The most visible investigation so far was by a congressional committee, which spent 18 months investigating Trump’s actions. In that span, they held a series of televised hearings in which they made the case that Trump’s unsubstantiated allegations of voter fraud led directly to the riot.

After these hearings, the committee accused Trump of inciting insurrection and other crimes.

Separately, the DOJ is conducting a criminal investigation into Jan. 6 and broader efforts to overturn the 2020 election, but not many details have been released about it. It is the largest police investigation in US history, but it is unclear to what extent Trump is a target of it.

What has Trump said?

The former president denied being responsible for the riots and criticized the congressional committee.

He has also continued to repeat his baseless accusations of widespread voter fraud.

How serious is the case?

The congressional committee, made up of seven Democrats and two Republicans, concluded its hearings recommending four criminal charges against Trump which he later forwarded to the Department of Justice.

The move was largely symbolic, as it is up to the DOJ to decide whether to file criminal charges. There are no indications that this is imminent.

However, the Justice Department’s criminal investigation has already led to hundreds of people who stormed the Capitol being charged.

The former president has not been called for questioning in that inquiry, but it remains a possibility. He too could, in theory, be charged if investigators believe there is sufficient evidence against him.

4. Attempts to change election results in Georgia

Prosecutors spent eight months investigating alleged attempts to overturn Trump’s narrow defeat in the state of Georgia in the 2020 presidential election.

A telephone conversation between Trump and the Secretary of State of Georgia, Brad Raffensperger, supports the investigation into what happened in that state.

The criminal investigation was opened after the disclosure of an hour-long phone call between the former president and the state’s top elections official on January 2, 2021.

“I just want to find 11,780 votes,” Trump said during the call to Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.a reference to the number of votes needed to give him victory in that state, where the difference between the two candidates was relatively small.

A grand jury investigating the case dissolved earlier this year after submitting a final report that remains sealed.

What has Trump said?

The former president has described the investigation, as he has done many others, as a “Witch hunt”.

He has also attacked the official leading the investigation, Fulton County Chief Prosecutor Fani Willis, as a “young, ambitious radical left-wing Democrat … heading one of the most corrupt and crime-ridden places.”

How serious is the case?

“The accusations are very serious. If charged and convicted, individuals face prison sentencesWillis told the newspaper The Washington Post last month.

The 26-member grand jury had no prosecution powers, but may have recommended charges. Among the potential crimes he investigated were solicitation to commit voter fraud, making false statements to government officials and extortion.

It is not known if the former president is being investigated directly, but it is known that some of his allies are part of the investigation.

However, for a criminal conviction, prosecutors would ultimately have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that those involved knew their actions were fraudulent.

In January, a prosecutor working on behalf of Fulton County said the district attorney’s office believes the report should only be released after prosecutors determine whether or not to press charges.

Source: Elcomercio