The Justice Department announced Wednesday that it is seeking to wind down two federal criminal cases against President-elect Donald Trump ahead of his second term.
With two other cases outstanding and the legal jeopardy expected to diminish in the months ahead, here’s a timeline of Trump’s legal troubles after his first departure from the Oval Office.
Federal cases
Classified documents case
Trump was indicted on 37 federal counts in June 2023 on charges stemming from Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021. He pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Trump’s team initially requested a partial pause in light of the Supreme Court ruling in Trump v. United States, wherein the court held that a former president has substantial immunity from prosecution for official acts committed while in office, but not for unofficial acts.
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Judge Aileen Cannon eventually dismissed the case against Trump in July, finding that Smith was improperly appointed to the special counsel role under the Constitution’s Appointments Clause.
The Appointments Clause states, “Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the Supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States be appointed by the President subject to the advice and consent of the Senate, although Congress may vest the appointment of inferior officers in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.”
Smith was never confirmed by the Senate.
The Justice Department announced on Wednesday it is seeking to wind down two federal criminal cases against President-elect Trump ahead of his second term. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Smith appealed the decision in August, with the filing reading, “The Attorney General validly appointed the Special Counsel, who is also properly funded.”
Election interference case
Smith filed another indictment in connection to his investigation against Trump in August 2023. He was indicted on four federal charges stemming out of the probe, including conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding; and conspiracy against rights.
Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges and argued he should be immune from prosecution from official acts done as president of the United States.
In July this year, the Supreme Court in its ruling on presidential immunity sent the matter back to a lower court, as the justices did not apply the ruling to whether or not former President Trump is immune from prosecution regarding actions related to efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
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Trump was indicted a second time in August. The new indictment maintained the previous criminal charges but narrowed the allegations after the Supreme Court ruling, clarifying Trump’s role as a current candidate and making clear the allegations regarding his conversations with then-Vice President Mike Pence in his ceremonial role as president of the Senate.
The 165-page filing submitted by Smith, in which he laid out the case and alleged evidence he would use in an eventual trial against the president-elect, was unsealed in early October. Judge Tanya Chutkan ordered more documents to be open to the public later that month, just weeks before the presidential election.
Trump’s team moved to dismiss Smith from the case in late October, arguing he was unlawfully appointed.
State cases
Manhattan hush money case
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg indicted Trump in 2023 on 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree relating to alleged hush money payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign. Bragg alleged Trump “repeatedly and fraudulently falsified New York business records to conceal criminal conduct that hid damaging information from the voting public during the 2016 presidential election.”
Trump pleaded not guilty to all counts.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, right, indicted Trump in 2023 on 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree relating to alleged hush money payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign. (Emily Elconin/Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
The president-elect was later found guilty on all counts, making him the first former president of the United States to be convicted of a crime. He appealed the decision.
His sentencing date was initially set for July 11, just days before the Republican National Convention where he was set to be formally nominated as the 2024 GOP presidential nominee. Judge Juan Merchan delayed the sentencing to Sept. 18 and once again to Nov. 26, after the presidential election.
Trump’s team requested the case be removed to federal court in October this year, citing the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity ruling and thus arguing he cannot be prosecuted for official acts he performed as president. Merchan is also scheduled to make a decision on Nov. 12 on Trump’s motion to vacate the case.
Georgia election case
Trump was indicted in Georgia in August 2023 after a yearslong criminal investigation led by state prosecutors into his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election in the state.
Trump pleaded not guilty to all counts.
In early 2023, Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee dismissed six of the charges against Trump, saying District Attorney Fani Willis, pictured, failed to allege sufficient detail. (Alex Slitz-Pool/Getty Images)
In early 2023, Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee dismissed six of the charges against Trump, saying District Attorney Fani Willis failed to allege sufficient detail. It was then thrown into disarray when it was revealed Willis reportedly had an “improper affair” with Nathan Wade, a prosecutor she hired to help bring the case against Trump. Wade was later removed.
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The Georgia Court of Appeals paused the proceeding in June until it heard the case to disqualify Willis. The court also said it would hear Trump’s argument to have Willis disqualified on Dec. 5, a month after the election.
When reached by Fox News Digital for comment on the state of the president-elect’s legal cases on Thursday, the Trump campaign said, “The American people have re-elected President Trump with an overwhelming mandate to Make America Great Again.”
“It is now abundantly clear that Americans want an immediate end to the weaponization of our justice system, so we can, as President Trump said in his historic speech yesterday, unify our country and work together for the betterment of our nation,” campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said.
Fox News’ Brooke Singman, David Spunt and Jake Gibson contributed to this report.
