It is expected that the pending legal cases against former President Donald Trump will peak this year, as the former president faces the possibility of being tried in four criminal cases in addition to multiple civil cases. However, it remains unclear whether Trump can be convicted in some of the largest cases brought against him before the 2024 presidential election.
Trial Dates
January 11: Closing arguments will be held in the ongoing civil fraud trial against Trump and his company, and a ruling is expected by the end of the month, which could result in the former president being ordered to pay $250,000 and barred from running any business in New York or engaging in commercial real estate transactions for the next five years.
January 16: The civil trial in the defamation lawsuit brought by author E. Jean Carroll against Trump begins; despite the fact that the defamation charge against Trump was dismissed (and he was ordered to pay her $5 million in a separate lawsuit), this trial will determine the amount Trump must pay in damages in this case.
January 29: Trump is scheduled to appear in court in New York for another civil lawsuit accusing him and his company of defrauding the plaintiffs by promoting a multi-level marketing scheme, although Trump has a pending motion to dismiss the case.
January – June: It is widely expected that the U.S. Supreme Court will intervene in Trump’s legal cases before the court’s term ends in June, including determining whether he is “protected” from criminal charges and whether he can be disqualified from the 2024 presidential election under the Fourteenth Amendment for “engaging” in an insurrection on January 6, 2021, after a Colorado Supreme Court ruling and the Maine Secretary of State decided he should be removed from the ballot.
March 4: Trump is scheduled to appear in federal court on charges of attempting to overturn the 2020 election, although this date is likely to be postponed as the case is on hold while the appellate court—and likely the Supreme Court—considers Trump’s request to dismiss the charges on the grounds of “presidential immunity.”
March 25: The trial is set to begin in the criminal case brought by the Manhattan District Attorney against Trump in state court, which accuses him of falsifying business records in conjunction with the “hush money” payments made to women during his 2016 campaign.
May 20: Trump is scheduled to appear in federal court on charges of mishandling White House documents he brought to Mar-a-Lago, although federal judge Aileen Cannon has stated she will review Trump’s request to delay the trial date in March, and the judge has already postponed several deadlines, making it difficult for the trial to take place on time.
August 5: Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has requested that this be the start date for the trial in the criminal case against Trump and his allies for attempting to overturn the 2020 election, but it remains unclear whether final trial dates will be set.
What to Watch For
The cases against Trump carry the potential for significant penalties for the former president, including imprisonment. Trump could face up to 717.5 years in prison if convicted on all criminal charges against him and given the maximum sentence, although this is unlikely. He could also face fines of up to $11.2 million in his criminal cases, in addition to any damages he is ordered to pay in civil cases. The former president also faces other legal challenges that have yet to be scheduled, with ongoing civil suits by Capitol police officers and Democratic members of Congress seeking to hold Trump accountable for the events of January 6, and pending lawsuits across the country challenging Trump’s candidacy under the Fourteenth Amendment.
What
We Don’t Know
How pending issues will affect the 2024 presidential election. The issues challenging Trump’s candidacy under the fourteenth amendment are still ongoing, and it is likely that their fate will be left to the Supreme Court to decide. It is hard to predict how many criminal cases will be resolved before the end of the presidential primary elections this summer or the general election in November. The case in Manhattan is likely to continue as scheduled in March, and the federal election case is expected to go to trial before the elections depending on the length of Trump’s appeal process to dismiss the case. However, it is difficult to say whether trials will begin in the document cases or Georgia before the actual elections start. Trump has attempted to delay trials against him until after the 2024 presidential election, especially in light of the fact that in the federal cases against him, his reelection would mean he could appoint attorneys general willing to drop the charges against him. Even if Trump is convicted before the election, that does not necessarily mean it will derail his chances of becoming president, as there is nothing in the constitution that prevents convicted criminals from working in the White House.
Main Criticism
Trump has vehemently denied the civil charges and allegations against him, maintaining his innocence on the criminal charges and claiming that the cases against him are “witch hunts” aimed at undermining his presidential campaign. The former president has continued to promote false claims about election fraud despite facing consequences for his attempts to overturn the 2020 election, asserting on Twitter on Monday that he “did nothing wrong” and that he is “revealing the truth that the elections were undoubtedly rigged and stolen.”
The Big Number
56%, that is the percentage of adults in the United States who believe Trump is “likely guilty” in the criminal conspiracy arising from his false claims of election fraud in the 2020 presidential election, according to a poll conducted by The Washington Post and the University of Maryland on Tuesday. This includes 88% of Democrats and only 18% of Republicans. Just under 46% believe that Trump’s role in the January 6 attack should disqualify him from the presidency, as the fourteenth amendment claims.
Main Background
Trump faces a total of 91 criminal charges in the four cases brought against him, all filed in 2023 following years-long investigations into the former president that concluded with the charges. The pending legal issues against Trump come after the former president has already started facing legal consequences in 2023, including his conviction for defamation and sexual assault against Carroll, who alleges that Trump raped her in the Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the 1990s. Although Trump’s civil fraud trial is still ongoing, Judge Arthur Engoron in New York issued a pre-trial ruling stating that Trump and his co-defendants – including his children – are liable for fraud because they provided misleading values for their assets in financial documents, which the state claims were done to secure more favorable business deals and reflect a higher net worth for Trump. Engoron ordered the cancellation of Trump’s business certificates as part of this ruling, although the appeals court has put that on hold while he appeals against it.
In-Depth Reading
Trump’s fraud trial: Here’s what we’ve learned from the major testimonies as the trial approaches its conclusion (Forbes)
Court Report: “Presidential Immunity” Does Not Free Trump from January 6 Charges – Again (Forbes)
The total charges against Trump could lead to more than 700 years in prison – here’s why that is unlikely (Forbes)
Here
The amount of fines that could cost Trump if convicted in four cases against him (Forbes)
Trump’s trial on fraud charges: Here’s what we’ve learned from the most notable testimonies as the trial draws near to its end (Forbes)
Court report: “Presidential immunity” does not free Trump from January 6 charges – again (Forbes)
The total charges against Trump could lead to more than 700 years in prison – here’s why that is unlikely (Forbes)
Here is the amount of fines that could cost Trump if convicted in four cases against him (Forbes)
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