Prosecutors drop Trump's federal charges as state cases could be put on hold

Since March 2023, Donald Trump He was indicted six times by a grand jury in four criminal cases, convicted once by a jury, had a mugshot taken, was ordered to pay millions in damages by two civil juries, and was found liable for civil fraud by a judge in Manhattan.

But as Trump nears his return to the White House following this month’s election victory, criminal and civil legal issues are beginning to fade into the background of the rapidly advancing presidential transition.

Trump has denied wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty in each criminal case, while denying all wrongdoing in the civil cases. His return to the presidency will likely result in four criminal cases being dismissed or postponed for at least four years.

Here’s the status of each of his major cases.

New York hush money case

It’s been more than a year since Trump was indicted in New York on charges of falsifying business records. convicted by jury In May, 34 felony counts were filed related to a hush money payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels to boost Trump’s chances of being elected in the 2016 presidential election.

Trump was originally scheduled to be convicted in July, but his lawyers asked for the case to be dismissed, citing the Supreme Court’s new ruling on presidential immunity, arguing that the conviction was based on evidence that should be prohibited. The judge in the case, Juan Merchan, has not yet issued a ruling on the impact of the high court’s immunity decision.

After Trump won the election, his lawyers again pushed for the case to be dismissed, arguing that sitting presidents should be immune from investigation. Prosecutors rejected that argument, arguing that Trump had already been convicted entirely of private conduct, but they signaled a desire to delay Trump’s sentence until he leaves office in 2029.

Judge Merchan not weighed yet Both recommendations are for the case to be dismissed. Trump’s sentencing is scheduled to be announced on November 26, but it is unlikely to proceed as planned.

Federal election interference lawsuit

A few months after special prosecutor Jack Smith took control of the investigation into Trump’s alleged election meddling, a grand jury was seated in Washington, D.C. A lawsuit was filed against Trump In August 2023, the case was thrown out due to criminal charges that he tried to illegally overturn the results of the 2020 election to remain in power — but when Trump’s lawyers objected, citing presidential immunity.

The Supreme Court ultimately ruled in July that Trump should benefit from the presumption of immunity for any official action he took while in office and sent the case back to U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to determine whether the allegations involved official action.

Prosecutors later revised their case against Trump, removing all allegations of official actions, including Trump’s use of the Justice Department, and prompting a grand jury to return a new indictment against the former president in August.

Trump was re-elected while Judge Chutkan was in the process of considering which parts of the indictment would qualify for presidential immunity. Smith then paused the case to “assess this unprecedented situation and determine the appropriate course forward consistent with Department of Justice policy.”

Smith is expected to close his case against Trump in the coming months because of the Justice Department’s longstanding policy prohibiting prosecution of a sitting president. He’s facing a face December 2 deadline to advise the court on its next steps.

Smith is also expected to submit a final report of his findings to Attorney General Merrick Garland; He will also face the decision of whether to make the materials public.

Federal classified documents case

from a federal grand jury in Florida in another case filed by special attorney Jack Smith. A lawsuit was filed against Trump and his deputy, Walt Nauta, were indicted in June 2023 on charges of withholding classified documents after leaving the White House and taking steps to thwart government efforts to retrieve them.

In July 2023, a grand jury returned a felony indictment against Trump and Nauta, as well as Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira.

Trump-appointed Judge Aileen Cannon, who oversaw the case for nearly a year, took up new legal arguments put forward by defense attorneys and delayed key rulings, preventing the case from reaching trial. It ultimately dismissed the case in July, finding that Smith was improperly appointed to his position.

Smith appealed Cannon’s decision to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, arguing that legal precedent and history confirm the attorney general’s authority to appoint special counsels. But after Trump was re-elected, he asked the court last week to pause the appeal to consider “unprecedented circumstances” that arose as a result of DOJ policy barring prosecution of a sitting president.

Here is the situation now on pause By Dec. 2, Smith is weighing options for dropping the case, including whether to pursue the case only against Trump’s co-defendants.

Georgia election interference case

Trump and 18 other defendants in August a criminal complaint was filed A sweeping racketeering indictment related to Trump’s alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in the state of Georgia, including asking Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” the votes he needed to win after losing to Joe Biden.

While four of the defendants in the case took plea deals, some of the remaining defendants attempted to have District Attorney Fani Willis, who filed the case, disqualified because of her relationship with a fellow prosecutor.

Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee refused to disqualify Willis if the prosecutor resigned, but the case was paused because Trump and other defendants appealed the decision. Oral argument on the appeal was originally scheduled for Dec. 5 but was unexpectedly canceled this week without explanation.

Meanwhile, Judge McAfee also reduced the indictment, throwing out five of the 13 counts on which Trump was originally charged.

If the case returns to court, Trump’s lawyers could mount a presidential immunity defense to dismiss the case, experts say. Asked what the impact of Trump’s election victory would be, defense attorney Steve Sadow suggested last year that the case would probably have to wait until Trump leaves office.

The Fulton County district attorney’s office had previously declined to comment on the future of the case.

New York civil fraud case

After a lengthy civil lawsuit last year, a New York judge found Trump, his adult sons and their business partners legally responsible for ten years of business fraud.

Including interest, Trump and the other defendants owe about $489 million and face a ban from running companies in New York. They arranged a $175 million bond secured by cash in Trump’s Charles Schwab account.

A New York appeals court in September upheld some of Trump’s arguments challenging the decision, with a judge calling the sentence “disturbing.” A decision on Trump’s appeal is expected in the coming months, and Trump may appeal the decision to New York’s highest court.

E. Jean Carroll civil cases

rump is indebted to writer E. Jean Carroll about 90 million dollars after losing two civil lawsuits against the former Elle magazine columnist.

In 2023, a jury awarded Carroll $5 million in damages when it found that Trump sexually assaulted her in a Manhattan store dressing room in the 1990s and later defamed her on social media.

The following year, a separate jury awarded Carroll an additional $83.3 million in damages for defamatory statements Trump made while president.

Trump secured the smaller judgment in cash and used a bond totaling $91,630,000 from the Virginia-based Federal Insurance Corp. for the second judgment. He appealed both cases.

A federal appeals court in September was skeptical of Trump’s push for a new civil trial, saying it would be “very difficult” to overturn the jury’s 2023 verdict.

“Mr. Attorney Roberta Kaplan said in a statement after the election this month.