New Delhi:

Millions of Americans on Wednesday celebrated Donald Trump’s remarkable return to the White House – the 78-year-old defied pre-poll predictions to become the first Republican in 20 years to win the popular vote en route to the presidency. But not everyone was quite so happy.

Among his critics was Vanity Fair, a monthly magazine on popular culture and current affairs, which featured Mr Trump on the cover of its newest digital issue, with a sequence of numbers highlighting the legal disputes that still surround the President-elect.

At the top of the list is the 34 felony charges the incoming American President faced in a criminal case in the State of New York. The court ruled Mr Trump altered business records to hide over $400,000 in payments made to Stormy Daniels, an adult film actor, to try and conceal details of their sexual encounter. He was convicted – the next number, 1 conviction – on all counts in May.

Mr Trump – who slammed the entire case as a “witch hunt” and protested his innocence – is the first felon to be elected as President of the United States. He has said he will appeal the verdict.

Sentencing was delayed till after the result of this election; it will be held on November 26, while a separate hearing on immunity for the incoming President is expected on November 12.

If the latter hearing goes as Mr Trump will want – i.e., if the court rules he enjoys immunity as a former President – then the former will be dismissed, since the guilty verdict will be overturned.

Even if there is to be no immunity, Mr Trump can now surely postpone any sentencing, although he cannot, as President, pardon himself since this is a state and not federal case.

In the extremely unlikely case the sentencing goes through, Mr Trump could face a maximum of four years in prison, but sentencing a President-elect days before he takes oath (on January 20) would be unprecedented. Mr Trump has also asked for the case to move to a federal court.

The next number – 2 cases pending.

In the first pending case are four charges in a Washington, D.C. court accusing Donald Trump of spreading false claims of election fraud to try and block collection and certification of votes cast in the 2020 election. This is, perhaps, the big one, since it deals with the January 2021 attack on the Capital.

The attack – by a mob of Donald Trump’s supporters – was widely seen as being precipitated by incendiary speeches from the outgoing President, claiming, as he had for weeks earlier without any evidence, that his election win had been “stolen by emboldened radical-left Democrats”.

FROM THE ARCHIVE | Trump Summoned Supporters To “Wild” Protest. They Came

The US Supreme Court offered some relief for Mr Trump after ruling some of his actions had immunity, but prosecutors then revised charges to name him as a private citizen instead.

Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges and cast the prosecutions as politically motivated.

FROM THE ARCHIVE | “Appropriate”: Trump Defends Speech Before Capitol Violence

The trial date for this has not yet been set, and with Mr Trump’s election win now, it is unclear if and when this will move forward. As President, Mr Trump can pardon himself for these charges.

The Georgia Case

In the second case, the President-elect and 18 others are accused of criminal conspiracy in trying to overturn his defeat in Georgia in 2020; he lost the state’s 16 electoral votes to Democrat Joe Biden, but popular vote loss was less than 0.5 per cent – 49.47 to Mr Biden and 49.24 to Mr Trump.

The investigation hinges on a call Mr Trump allegedly made, asking a senior George polling official to “find 11,780 votes” – which would have put him a single vote ahead of his rival.

Mr Trump pleaded not guilty, but the trial itself has been delayed by his team seeking to disqualify the public prosecutor for a romantic relationship with a man she hired to work on the case.

Oral arguments on that matter are scheduled for December 5, but Mr Trump’s lawyers are already looking ahead and have said they will ask the court for a suspension of proceedings based on the argument a President ought not to face a criminal prosecution while in office.

As with the New York case, Mr Trump cannot pardon himself as this is a state case, and he also cannot shut down these proceedings as he could the Washington, D.C. charges.

However, this case has also been paused with no certainty on when it will resume.

The other numbers on the Vanity Fair cover pertain to Mr Trump’s 2 impeachments – one in December 2019 on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, and the other in 2021, after the Capitol attack. In both cases Donald Trump was acquitted by the Senate.

The Vanity Fair cover also mentions Mr Trump’s 6 bankruptcy filings, and conclude on a sharply scathing note: “4 more years… the 47th American President.”

But these numbers are trumped by another – 280, the number of electoral college votes in Mr Trump’s pocket and which confirm that he will be the next President of the United States, despite a spirited (and hopeful) but ultimately futile challenge by Democrat Kamala Harris.

With input from agencies

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On Thursday, former US President Donald Trump was found guilty on 34 felony charges regarding hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign. The 77-year-old, who is the first former US president to be criminally convicted, still faces criminal charges in three other cases, whose trials are yet to begin. 

Mr Trump faced 88 criminal counts in all and 54 now remain. Here’s a look at the other criminal cases against him.

June 2023: Classified Documents Case 

Mr Trump is charged with mishandling classified documents and hoarding them at his Palm Beach, Florida, home after completing his term as President. He is accused of obstructing the FBI’s attempts to retrieve those documents. It is said that the documents were taken from the White House office and stored at his private residence in January 2021. FBI agents raided Mar-a-Lago the next year and seized dozens of classified and top-secret documents. In June 2023, Trump was indicted on 40 counts for mishandling the secret documents. 

A trial in the case was scheduled to begin on May 20, but Judge Aileen Cannon, who was appointed to the federal bench by Mr Trump, postponed it, stating that there are too many outstanding pre-trial motions and classified issues that need to be resolved. It is unlikely that the trial will start before the 2024 November election.

August 2023: Capitol Riots Case 

In August 2023, the former President was indicted on four felony charges for his efforts to block the peaceful transfer of power from him to Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election and working to overturn the results of the election. He is also accused of instigating violent riots at the US Capitol on January 6.  

Federal prosecution regarding this case was brought by Jack Smith, charging Mr Trump with conspiring to defraud the United States government and obstructing official proceedings.

The trial is yet to begin as Mr Trump claims that he can’t be prosecuted for actions taken while he was president. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

August 2023: Georgia Election Interference Case 

A Fulton County grand jury indicted Mr Trump with 10 felony counts for interfering in the 2020 Georgia Presidential election to overturn the results to the state. He faces charges of attempting to overturn the 2020 election as part of a “racketeering conspiracy” with 18 allies. 

A key event in this case was his January 2, 2021, phone call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, in which Trump urged Raffensperger to “find” 11,780 votes to reverse Biden’s victory.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis launched a criminal investigation in February 2021, with a special grand jury examining potential violations, including solicitation of election fraud, and conspiracy. This case has drawn significant public and political attention, with critics viewing it as an attack on democracy. The investigations in this case are still ongoing.

The three remaining criminal cases are proceeding slowly. The US Supreme Court is trying to determine if Mr Trump should be criminally immune for actions he took while he was President. He has also sought to delay any trials until after the November presidential election and it will be interesting to see what happens to these cases after he wins.