It feels like every time we look at the news, there are new updates concerning former President Donald Trump being on trial. Yet somehow, the topics of the articles always seem different. The reason for this is that Trump is on trial in four different cases for crimes ranging from election interference to hoarding classified documents to falsifying business records. Additionally, Trump is also involved in a civil case in Colorado after the state ruled to keep him off ballots in the 2024 election. This comes to a total of five cases, all of which are occurring simultaneously. The five are in different states across the country, meaning that much of Trump’s time this election season will be spent in court. Each case has unique characteristics though all could be pivotal to the upcoming presidential election. Only the Colorado case has been decided; that still leaves ongoing changes and updates for all of the other four. Staying informed on these events is important, as the entire landscape of American politics could see major shifts in the coming months and years depending on the outcome of this election and these cases.
Federal Election Interference
Even before the 2020 election results were confirmed Trump had launched a campaign discrediting Joe Biden’s victory. This campaign culminated in the January 6th storming of the US Capitol, in which five people lost their lives, including one police officer, while four more officers later committed suicide within months of the insurrection. CNN reports hundreds of protestors and officers were injured, leading to questions about how this could have happened. These “patriots” were led to believe that there had been widespread election fraud and therefore, the result was illegitimate. The primary purveyor was Donald Trump himself. Along with cabinet members, advisors, and various members of his party, Trump encouraged election officials to overturn the result and when that wasn’t possible, spurred his supporters to rise up against democracy.
Trump was indicted on August 1, 2023 by a Washington DC grand jury. The process clearly took years, as it went from the House Select Committee to the Washington courts. Trump was charged with four total felonies: two for disrupting the shift of power to Biden: “obstructing an official proceeding,” one for encouraging the insurrection: “conspiracy to defraud the United States,” and one for attempting to disallow citizens’ votes through claiming election fraud. Indictment is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as “a formal charge of accusation of a serious crime.” Essentially, indictment is acknowledgment by a court that the accused has committed a crime. This is a big deal because it marks the first time in US history that a president or former president has been charged. Trump has been charged as a criminal, but the case has yet to go to trial. It seems likely that Trump will be found guilty given the amount of evidence from the prosecution so his defense team has decided to weaponize time.
One of the responsibilities of the president is to pardon federal criminals (those who have wronged the country). Since all of these charges are federal, if Trump won the presidency and then was found guilty, he could simply pardon himself. There may be difficulties with this since it is unprecedented, but that is the idea that Trump’s defense team, Todd Blanche and John Lauro, is going off of. However, if the case goes to trial and Trump is convicted before the election, his chances of winning diminish. He could, however, still run for president. The head of prosecution, Jack Smith, is attempting to hurry the case along, as is the norm.
Georgia Election Interference
The Georgia Election Interference case is related to the Federal Election Interference case, although it zooms in a bit on Trump’s post-loss actions specifically in the state of Georgia. This was one of the closest states and one of the most meaningful, as Georgia holds 16 electoral college votes. Refusing the loss, Trump threatened officials if they did not produce enough votes to sway the count in his favor. These votes did not exist. He went so far as to try to send fake electors to Washington DC to try and overturn the result. These electors would lie and claim that Trump had won the state. Biden won the national election at a score of 306 to 232 electoral votes, so merely overturning Georgia would not have been enough to change the results of the election, as it would be 290 to 248, but doing so would set a precedent and increase Trump’s power to continue threatening other states until he did get to 270. On top of this, all of these threats and plots were plain illegal, as evidenced in Trump’s indictment on August 14, 2023.
This indictment covered 19 defendants (Trump and many of his colleagues and advisors) and 41 felony charges, all at a state level. This is important to note because if Trump is found guilty of state felonies, he would be unable to pardon himself should he win the 2024 election. Only 13 of the 41 charges are against Trump himself, although in March of 2024 Scott McAfee, the judge on the case, dismissed six total charges, three of which were against Trump. This development means that there are still ten remaining charges: the most serious of which are for breaking the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act as well as two counts of planning to create forged documents (“conspiracy to commit forgery in the first degree”). Additionally, Trump has also been charged with one count of planning to send fake electors to D.C. (“conspiracy to commit impersonating a public officer”), two counts of conspiracy to create fake documents, two counts of actually creating fake documents (“false statements and writings”), one count of planning to commit filing false documents, and one count of actually filing those false documents. The RICO charge could heighten the effect of the other charges if found guilty since it is an organized crime act. In Georgia, Trump and the other 18 defendants could be found guilty of longstanding organized crime, for which they would likely receive much more dire consequences than the other charges.
This case, like many of these cases, is completely unprecedented. Firstly because the lead prosecutor, Fani Willis, is the district attorney of Fulton County but not the Attorney General of the state. Additionally, this is an extremely high-profile case, with many of the defendants holding high offices both at the federal and state levels.
This case is potentially more complicated than others because of issues within the prosecution team. Prior to March 15th, Nathan Wade was a special prosecutor but stepped down after it came to light that he and Willis were in a relationship. Willis hired Wade to serve as part of the prosecution team in early November 2021, and although it is unknown when exactly the relationship began, it is suspected to have been around this time, as Wade filed for divorce from his former wife the next day, November 2. Trump’s attorney, Steven Sadow, and his team have been trying to remove Willis from the case since March of last year, although it is unknown under what circumstances. The relationship between Wade and Willis was confirmed by Willis in early February of 2024. After the lengthy disqualification hearing that Trump’s team launched, Judge McAfee ruled that Willis would stay on the case as long as Wade resigned. This entire scandal is a huge blemish on the case, diminishing Willis’ credibility.
With the case now back on track, Sadow is claiming protection by the first amendment for free speech, although the prosecution has argued that his actions go beyond speech and so this claim doesn’t hold. We have yet to see what the hearing holds, but I encourage all to keep up with the case as it is one of the most pivotal of the five.
Classified Documents
After the transfer of power from Trump to Biden, it was found that Trump held onto classified documents that he was no longer privy to. Trump stored these files at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. Trump refused to return these files and even allegedly shared some with others who also did not have clearance; the FBI found 102 classified documents during a raid. Jack Smith is the special prosecutor in this case and has led the prosecution team.
Trump was indicted for the first time in Florida on June 9th of 2023 with 37 felonies, while a longtime aide of Trump’s named Walt Nauta was charged with six felonies for aiding him. A second indictment was revealed on July 27, charging Trump with three additional felonies and Nauta with two. This indictment also charged a Mar-a-Lago employee named Carlos de Oliveira with four felonies, bringing the grand total to 52 charges.
The charges against Trump are for keeping the documents, lying about it, and various “obstruction-related crimes.” He was charged for each of the 32 documents found that he refused to return, all but one of which was classified. Many presidents and former presidents store documents in personal locations that are later found and are not brought to court. However, the thing that sets Trump apart is his behavior with the files. Between refusing to return the files and sharing them with others, Trump has broken the Espionage Act, which outlaws sharing classified documents. Additionally, Trump ordered Nauta to move the files around to avoid being found – thus criminalizing Nauta.
These are all federal crimes, so similarly to the Federal Election Interference case, should Trump win the presidency, he could potentially pardon himself of all crimes. The case was assigned to Judge Aileen Cannon of the Southern District of Florida. This assignment is a highly controversial topic given that Trump appointed Cannon to this district after he had lost the 2020 election. This is, of course, the district that Mar-a-Lago is in and so the only district where Trump could be tried for this. Cannon is a historically fervent supporter of Trump, having ruled in his favor before in a civil case. There is a court date set for May 20, 2024, and Smith’s case is considered very strong, but it is extremely difficult to fight against a judge’s predisposition toward the defendant. One of Trump’s best defenses in this case is once again, time. Time is one of the things that Cannon has power over and it is expected that she will stall the trial until after the election.
Hush Money
Stormy Daniels was a name we all heard a couple of years ago when it came to light that Trump was involved in a sex scandal in 2006. This was only a year after Trump married Melania, his third wife who had just given birth. While having an affair is obviously morally incorrect, it is not illegal. It was later revealed that Michael Cohen, Trump’s former attorney, paid Daniels $130,000 in 2015 to keep quiet ahead of the 2016 election. Again, this is legal since the money was not paid to cover up a crime. While nothing I’ve covered so far is illegal, the funds that Trump used to reimburse Cohen were filed as “legal fees” as part of his 2016 election campaign. The money was paid by Trump’s company to Cohen and was paid right before the 2016 election in the hopes that by hiding the affair, Trump would be more likely to win.
Donald Trump was indicted on March 30th of 2023 in Manhattan. He was charged with 34 counts of “falsifying business records in the first degree.” Trump’s legal team denies both the affair and the cover-up, claiming that the funds were credible. Although it is legal to organize hush funds, it is not legal to do so in order to influence a federal election. Alvin Bragg, Manhattan’s District Attorney, argues that Trump’s attempt to “corrupt” the election was a repeated offense: the prosecution team allegedly has evidence that this was part of an orchestrated effort to cover up multiple stories rather than a solitary incident. All of these examples occurred within close proximity to the 2016 election, demonstrating correlation and intention in the timing. If this were a one-off event, the stakes would be lower: he would be tried for a misdemeanor offense rather than a felony. However, because of the continuance of these actions, they escalate into felony severity. Potential consequences differentiate misdemeanors and felonies: depending on the state, felonies are crimes for which the punishment is prison time longer than one year or elevated fines, whereas misdemeanors are less severe: prison time more than 15 days but less than one year. They can also come with smaller fines than felonies.
Presidential campaigns have specific rules to regulate the flow of money including transparency laws in order to keep track of where money is spent. These laws are all state-by-state, meaning that the federal government does not regulate them. Trump and Cohen filed this hush payment as a campaign fund, hiding the true nature of the sum. New York law requires campaigns to make expenses public and keep track of the money going in and out. Since Trump’s campaign was launched in New York City, he was required to follow New York laws. This case is seen as both the most complicated and the least likely to rule against Trump. This is also the first case to go to trial. Declining the defense team’s appeal to dismiss, Judge Juan Merchen set the court date for April 15th, 2024. Originally, the trial was scheduled to start on March 25th but was delayed after Judge Merchen received last-minute information. The defense team attempted to permanently dismiss the case on the basis that these late documents could assist the prosecution, but Merchen denied this request and decided to go ahead with the trial.
The prosecutors are relying on testimony from Michael Cohen, who has chosen to speak out against Trump, as well as alleged evidence of repeated criminal activity to prove Trump is a felon. However, the defense will likely argue that the charges brought against Trump were misclassified and are instead mere bookkeeping issues which, while illegal for the normal person, are not significant enough to bring against a former president. Additionally, since the laws against systematic crime and falsifying records are state and federal laws, respectively, there is little precedent for how those laws interact. A person is generally charged with either a state or federal crime. This issue could prove a weak point in the prosecution’s case.
At the end of the day, Trump has been charged with a state crime, meaning that if Judge Merchen were to rule in favor of the prosecution, Trump would still be able to run for president but if he were to run, would not be able to pardon himself. Only the governor of New York has the ability to do so, meaning that this would be the first time in US history that a sitting president serves a punishment for a crime. However, since the charges themselves are not particularly severe, Trump would be likely to receive probation or lighter since he would be a first-time offender and a nonviolent defendant. It is highly unlikely that he would serve time in prison, but being on trial during the election season could have a negative effect on his campaign and hurt his chances at winning office come November.
Colorado Ballots
Trump v. Anderson is a case that started in Colorado, intending to use Section III of the 14th Amendment to take Trump off the 2024 presidential election ballot.
The Section in question reads:
“No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.”
Essentially, no sworn government employee can serve if they have turned against the country in insurrection. Colorado courts had ruled that Trump would not appear on the 2024 presidential ballot, a highly controversial decision given the lack of bipartisan decision-making in modern American politics. Although more than half of all states have seen objections to Trump’s credibility as a presidential option, only Colorado has ruled in favor so far. However, instead of filing criminal charges, lawyers are invoking the “disqualification clause,” which seeks to remove Trump from the ballot, requiring voters to either write him in or choose another eligible candidate. However, after Colorado passed this motion, Trump’s representatives appealed and it went to the U.S. Supreme Court who unanimously ruled that no state could take Trump off the ballot, protecting his eligibility for the 2024 election.
The Supreme Court Justices did not argue over whether or not Trump engaged in the insurrection, but rather if as president, this section of the amendment applies to him. The wording lists many positions and offices such as electors, senators, officers, etc. but does not include the president. Thus, Justice Ketanji Jackson asks, “Why would we construe it…against democracy?” This quote beautifully sums up bipartisan justice. Jackson is a liberal-leaning justice, but taking Trump off of the ballots creates a precedent of expanding the divide and furthering the means to which both parties are willing to go to fight each other, losing focus of the true intentions of the country. We can dispute the wording of the section all we like, but at the end of the day, the Supreme Court decided to keep Trump on the ballots in Colorado and every other state.
How can we call ourselves a land of equality if we cannot hold a man who once held the highest seat of power in our country accountable for his crimes? It is impossible to predict the outcomes of any of these cases given how many factors are at work. We have to trust that justice will prevail but also be prepared to respond if it does not. This is a country of free speech and liberty but also of imperfection, as much as many try to convince themselves otherwise. This is also a country where the people have power and can create change, if they are willing to do so. Staying informed and following these cases as they progress is the first step to creating these changes.
