The charges filed Tuesday against former President Trump over alleged illegal hush money payments to adult performer Stormy Daniels are just the first of several criminal and civil cases that could snag Mr. Trump in the coming months.
Mr. Trump faces a rape claim, charges of election interference and federal probes into his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. He’s also accused of stealing classified documents, among a litany of other legal challenges:
Georgia election interference
While Mr. Trump battles Manhattan’s liberal District Attorney Alvin Bragg over hush money charges that some legal experts say are legally weak, Mr. Trump’s staunchest critics are focused on what they see as a far more serious criminal probe in Fulton County, Georgia. That’s where District Attorney Fani Willis is investigating Mr. Trump for election interference following the 2020 presidential election.
A grand jury recently recommended perjury charges in the case. But the list of who should be charged, as well as other charges the grand jury recommended, which could include racketeering and solicitation of election fraud, have not been made public and could hit the former president.
Georgia officials started investigating Mr. Trump’s post-election involvement in February 2021 after Mr. Trump’s call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensberger in the days after the election.
Mr. Trump called Mr. Raffensberger upset over his narrow loss to Mr. Biden in Georgia, which he thought was related to election integrity issues. The state’s final vote tally showed President Biden ahead by only 11,779 votes.
On the call, which was recorded and later distributed to several media outlets, Mr. Trump told Mr. Raffensberger, “I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have.” He told Mr. Raffensberger. “There’s nothing wrong with saying, you know, that you’ve recalculated.”
Mr. Trump’s legal team last month sought to quash the grand jury’s final recommendations, most of which remain sealed. Trump’s lawyers said the process was “tainted” and the report “violates the principles of fundamental fairness.”
Federal probes into Jan. 6 Capitol riot and classified documents
Three days after President Trump’s November 18 announcement of his third presidential campaign, Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed special counsel Jack Smith to oversee a two-part criminal probe of the former president.
The dual investigation is focused on Mr. Trump’s involvement in provoking the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol and separately, his possession of classified documents at his office and residence at his private Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida.
Mr. Trump called the investigation a “political persecution” and Mr. Smith a “fully weaponized monster.”
Congressional Democrats, who conducted their public investigation of the riot, blame Mr. Trump for provoking rioters who then tried to prevent the certification of Mr. Biden’s victory. They say he incited an insurrection, committed conspiracy to block Congress from certifying the election results and then lied about it.
Democrats say his possession of classified documents, removed from Mar-a-Lago last summer in an unprecedented FBI raid on the home of a former president, was illegal and put national security at risk.
In January, Mr. Garland appointed a second special counsel, Robert Hur, to investigate Mr. Biden’s own stash of classified documents found in various locations. The documents dated back to his time as vice president in the Obama administration and his time in the Senate.
A list of civil cases
• Former magazine advice columnist E. Jean Carroll is suing Mr. Trump in two separate cases for defamation and sexual assault. Ms. Carroll accused Mr. Trump of raping her more than two decades ago. Mr. Trump has denied ever meeting Ms. Carroll, describing her as “not my type.” Ms. Carroll’s first defamation suit has been postponed. A second suit alleging sexual assault and defamation is scheduled to go to trial on April 25 in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.
• New York Attorney General Letitia James sued Mr. Trump, his family and the Trump organization, accusing them of manipulating the value of his business assets to borrow money on more favorable terms, pay lower insurance premiums and face lower taxes. The trial is slated to start in October.
• And then there are the lawsuits related to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. Seven Capitol Police officers are suing Mr. Trump and several GOP allies over the attack on the Capitol. The lawsuit claims Mr. Trump put the officers in jeopardy by inciting the riot at a rally held earlier near the White House. A group of House Democrats also is suing Mr. Trump over the distress inflicted on them by the riot and for inciting a riot in a bid to block them from certifying the presidential election.
• Susan Ferrechio can be reached at sferrechio@washingtontimes.com.