As former President Trump campaigns to return to the White House, he also is set to defend himself in a slew of legal battles that may unfold in courtrooms from New York to Washington, D.C., to Florida.
The Justice Department’s (DOJ) recent indictment of Trump for his handling of classified documents has only added to his legal woes.
Trump and his legal team are already juggling two indictments and civil cases with filing deadlines or court dates stretching through the summer into the heart of 2024 campaign season. Two other criminal investigations could bring more charges.
Here’s a look at Trump’s major legal battles going forward.
Federal classified document criminal case
On Tuesday in Miami, Trump pleaded not guilty to 37 federal criminal charges that he allegedly held onto classified national security documents after his term in the White House and resisted attempts by the government to recover the materials.
The charges, which include 31 counts of violating the Espionage Act, follow the investigation led by DOJ special counsel Jack Smith.
Trump attacked Smith before and after the arraignment, dismissing the case as politically motivated, as he’s also done with others against him.
Though some have argued the charges shore up the argument that Trump shouldn’t be elected for another four years in the White House, legally, the charges don’t prevent Trump from being in the race. Trump said shortly after the indictment that he sees “no case” in which he’d drop out of the 2024 race.
A trial in the case is still months away, and there’s no next appearance set yet for Trump.
Walt Nauta, who was Trump’s valet in the White House and became his personal aide at Mar-a-Lago, has also been indicted as a co-conspirator to Trump’s alleged document mishandling in the case.
Nauta faces six counts and is set to be arraigned on June 27. Trump has been ordered not to speak with Nauta about the case.
Federal criminal investigation into Jan. 6
Smith’s team has continued to bring witnesses before a grand jury in their other investigation, which probes efforts to interfere with the transfer of power after the 2020 presidential election leading up to and including the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Nevada GOP Chairman Michael McDonald and Nevada GOP committee member Jim DeGraffenreid, who were both involved in a plot to send fake electors, on the day of Trump’s Miami arraignment were reportedly spotted inside D.C.’s federal courthouse, where the grand jury meets.
Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon recently received a subpoena in special with the investigation, according to NBC News.
The investigation has not yet turned up any charges but could add to the federal charges Trump faces.
New York hush money criminal case
Trump’s legal team is mounting its defense after Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 state criminal charges of falsifying business records in April.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) has accused Trump of making a series of false entries as he reimbursed his then-fixer, Michael Cohen, for a $130,000 hush payment made to adult-film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
Trump has until Aug. 29 to file any motions to dismiss the indictment ahead of trial. Acting New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, who is overseeing the case, has set a Jan. 4 hearing to consider the motions.
Merchan also tentatively set a trial to begin on March 25 in the heat of the presidential primary season.
Meanwhile, Trump is making two other moves: attempting to transfer the case to federal court and demanding Merchan’s recusal.
The attempted move, which prosecutors oppose, is set to be resolved in the coming days. The federal court has set a June 27 hearing, if needed, but a ruling could come earlier. If Trump’s motion is granted, it would expand the jury pool beyond deep-blue Manhattan to include a broader area of New York.
Trump earlier this month demanded Merchan’s recusal, citing apparent small-dollar donations he made to President Biden and liberal-leaning groups, the judge’s participation in a previous case related to Trump and reports that Merchan’s daughter works at a progressive digital agency.
An opinion from the New York Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics, first reported by Reuters, that mimics Merchan’s situation without mentioning him by name, however, signaled he does not need to recuse.
Fulton County criminal investigation into 2020 election
The Georgia district attorney investigating election interference attempts in the state has signaled she could bring charges against Trump in the first half of August.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) last month asked Georgia judges not to schedule trials and in-person hearings in that period, without giving an explicit reason for the request.
Willis has been leading a probe into whether Trump and his allies tried to interfere in the state’s 2020 election results.
The investigation followed news of a phone call in which Trump, then the president, asked Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) to “find” some 11,000 votes, which would have flipped Biden’s win in the state. Trump has defended the phone call as “absolutely perfect.”
New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R), Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows were among a number of figures in Trump’s orbit subpoenaed in the Georgia case.
E. Jean Carroll’s civil lawsuits
Trump is appealing a jury’s verdict last month that awarded writer E. Jean Carroll $5 million in damages.
The jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll in the mid-1990s and defaming her by denying her claims in an October 2022 statement. Trump has further asked for a new trial.
As the appeal proceeds, Carroll’s first lawsuit against Trump, which hasn’t yet reached trial, is moving ahead.
That suit accuses Trump of defaming Carroll when she initially came forward in June 2019, including during an interview Trump gave The Hill at the White House three days after the allegation was first published.
DOJ, including during the Biden administration, has attempted to step in and replace Trump as the defendant, arguing he made the statements at issue in the scope of his employment as president. A thorny legal battle ensued over whether DOJ was allowed to substitute itself for Trump, holding up the case for months. It ended with no clear resolution, which leaves it to the jury to decide.
But that may soon change.
In recent court filings, DOJ has signaled it is reassessing its position after a series of developments, including Carroll adding Trump’s CNN town hall comments about the recent verdict to her original lawsuit. A judge granted her requestto add the comments on Tuesday.
“We look forward to moving ahead expeditiously on E. Jean Carroll’s remaining claims,” Robbie Kaplan, Carroll’s attorney, said in a statement following the decision.
DOJ has a July 13 deadline to request that it be allowed to step away from the case, which would leave Trump on the hook for any damages. The matter is set to be fully briefed by Aug. 3 so that the judge can make a ruling.
New York attorney general’s civil fraud lawsuit
New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) is bringing a $250 million civil fraud lawsuit against Trump, his three adult children and his business entities.
The suit follows a multiyear investigation into whether the former president and his company misled investors and tax authorities by inflating and then deflating property values to get investments and tax and loan benefits.
Trump sat for his second deposition in the case earlier this year. In a deposition last August, he pleaded the Fifth, declining to answer questions. The former president and his family have bashed James and decried the suit as politically motivated.
The trial has been set for Oct. 2.
But James said this week that her case against Trump, as well as Bragg’s and Willis’s, may have to be put on pause as the former president faces down the federal classified documents case.
“In all likelihood, I believe that my case, as well as DA Bragg and the Georgia case, will unfortunately have to be adjourned pending the outcome of the federal case,” James said.
