In the past 5 months former President Donald Trump has been involved in much controversy for being the first president to be criminally indicted. He has been indicted 4 times and has pleaded not guilty to all counts. He is expected to turn himself in by August 26th. Let’s dive into what these cases are and what Trump is being accused of. 

Mar-a-Lago Classified Documents

This indictment occurred in June, when former president Trump was accused of storing dozens of classified documents at his resort in Florida and then refusing to turn them into the FBI and National Archives. Federal prosecutors say Trump had a direct hand in taking classified documents after leaving the White House in 2021 and boasting about having these documents. While prosecutors wanted the trial to start on December 11th, on July 1st Judge Cannon issued an order to push the trial back to May 20, 2024. This will be at the end of the Republican presidential primary. Trump’s legal team is likely to continue to try to get the trial pushed back until after the 2024 election. Trump has also been charged by a grand jury in the Southern District of Florida for willful retention of National Defense Information. In total, Trump has been accused of 40 charges.

Stormy Daniels Hush Money

This indictment is when Trump became the first former president in U.S. history to be criminally indicted. It occurred in March when a grand jury voted to indict Trump for felony of business record falsification involving actress Stormy Daniels, or Stephanie Crawford. Trump is accused of paying hush money payments to Daniels to cover up an affair with the actress. Daniels has stated that she and Trump had an affair in 2006 and after the launch of Trump’s 2016 campaign, she offered to sell her story to gossip magazines. National executives of the National Enquirer alerted this to Trump’s attorney, Michael Cohen. Cohen agreed to pay $130,000 to keep Daniels silent, which her attorney received two weeks before the election. Cohen was reimbursed $420,000 after Trump became president. Trump had admitted to doing this to pay Daniels, however he and his executives are accused of committing fraud because they categorized this as a “retainer for legal services”. Trump also denies his affair with Daniels. He is accused of 34 accounts. 

January 6th

Trump is accused of only 4 (3 conspiracy counts and a count for the obstruction of an official preceding) charges for this case, however the indictment is 45 pages long. It accuses Trump of committing crimes as he and his supporters tried to hold on to power after the 2020 election. The indictment accuses Trump of pushing Republican officials to put forward alternate electors in states that Biden had already won (Arizona, Wisconsin, and Georgia). It also accuses him of conspiring to turn over a won election by pushing a conspiracy theory and using his power to rally an attack on the Capital. Six unnamed co-conspirators are also included, 3 of which have named themselves. Trump also pushed many failed lawsuits in states where he had lost, accusing them of election fraud. The attack on the Capital was also investigated by the Justice Department. 

Georgia Election Interference

On Monday August 14th a grand jury led by District Attorney Willis indicted Trump and 18 allies for attempts to overturn the 2020 elections in Georgia. It was sparked by a recording of a phone call Trump made in January 2021, in which Trump pressures the Georgia Secretary of State (Brad Faffensperger) to “find” Trump more votes. The indictment also uses other similar situations like this that Trump and his allies allegedly did to overturn election results. The case uses the States Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization act (RICO) arguing that efforts by Trump and his allies to change the election results in Georgia were a criminal enterprise. Willis says she will try the group collectively. Trump maintains no wrongdoing and that there was large-scale voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election. The entire group includes 19 defendants and 41 charges, while Trump is facing 13. 

Civil Lawsuits

It is important to note that Trump is still facing civil lawsuits involving New York Attorney Letitia James and E. Jean Carroll. James filed a civil lawsuit against Trump and his three of his children for allegedly committing fraud to inflate his net worth by billions of dollars to get richer. Carroll filed a lawsuit against Trump for defamation involving sexual assault in 2019 and for defamation and rape in 2022. 

Effect on Trump’s Campaign

The indictments have had an effect on Trump’s voter base in his campaign. They have caused independent swing voter favorability for Trump to drop to 30%, which is big since they typically decide the elections. Half of all Independents also think Trump has done something illegal. Including all voters, Trump’s favorability is only 40%. While the indictments have had an impact on Independents, it hasn’t greatly changed how he is supported by Republicans or resented by Democrats. About 50% of the Republican party is already locked in to vote for Trump, and 95% of Trump’s voting base (those that voted for him in 2016 and 2020) have remained unwavering. 

Cites

https://www.npr.org/2023/07/20/1185762259/trump-criminal-civil-cases-lawsuits

https://www.npr.org/2023/08/16/1193859099/trump-indictment-georgia-republican-support