What could have proven luckier for Donald Trump than getting elected as the president of the United States? Because of his election win, federal prosecutions against him have already been dismissed, his criminal cases are at risk of facing the same fate and his state cases have been stalled.

This time last year, he was reeling under the pressure of trials that could put him behind bars for years, moreover even have him shell out millions of dollars.

However, sitting presidents cannot be prosecuted.

Steven Cheung, Trump’s spokesperson said that since the election was a “mandate” from the people, they “demanded an immediate end to the political weaponization of our justice system and a swift dismissal of all the Witch Hunts against him. We look forward to uniting our country as President Trump Makes America Great Again.”

As per NBC, here are a few court cases looking Donald Trump in the eye:

Hush money case

Trump was convicted in a New York state court in May on 34 counts of falsifying business records. These records were related to a hush money payment made to porn star Stormy Daniels by Trump’s then-lawyer Michael Cohen during the 2016 presidential election. Daniels alleged she had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006, which Trump denies.

Trump pleaded not guilty to the charges and was initially set to be sentenced in July. However, the sentencing was delayed due to a U.S. Supreme Court decision that established a new standard for presidential immunity. Trump’s attorneys argued that this ruling meant the indictment and conviction should be dismissed, as they partly relied on evidence from Trump’s time in office. Judge Juan Merchan rejected this argument in a December 16 ruling.

The judge also indicated that sentencing Trump after he takes office might not be possible. This decision was based on a Justice Department memo and the Supreme Court ruling, which emphasise the need for a sitting President to carry out their duties without interference from criminal proceedings. The Manhattan district attorney’s office argues that Trump could be sentenced after his term in office ends. However, Trump’s attorneys oppose this, stating that having a pending sentencing would unfairly impact Trump’s presidency.

Georgia election interference case

Donald Trump and 18 co-defendants were indicted in August 2023 by the Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney’s office. The charges allege conspiracy to illegally overturn Trump’s 2020 election loss to Joe Biden in the state. Trump pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The case stalled due to allegations of conflict of interest involving District Attorney Fani Willis. Trump and some co-defendants argued Willis should be disqualified due to her romantic relationship with the special prosecutor overseeing the case. A Georgia appeals court ruled in Trump’s favour on December 19, disqualifying Willis and her office from the case.

Willis’ office is appealing the ruling, which may take several months. Even if successful, the trial would need to wait until Trump is out of office, as it’s expected to take months. Alternatively, the case could be referred to the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia to find a new prosecutor.

The council’s executive director, Pete Skandalakis, stated that a new prosecutor could utilise existing investigative work, conduct additional investigations, and choose to use or discard parts of Willis’ indictment.

Civil fraud verdict

A major financial threat is looming over President-elect Trump, stemming from a $350 million judgment made by a New York judge in February last year. The judge found Trump and his company guilty of years of fraudulent conduct, which Trump has denied and appealed. The judgment has now ballooned to over $500 million with interest, with Trump personally liable for nearly $489 million.

During a September hearing, three out of five judges on the state Appellate Division panel expressed concerns that the financial penalty might be excessive, but a ruling has yet to be made. Following the November election, Trump’s attorney, John Sauer, requested that the case be voluntarily dismissed to promote “unity” and avoid interfering with Trump’s presidential duties. However, the office of Attorney General Letitia James declined the request.

E. Jean Carroll verdicts

Writer E. Jean Carroll has got two significant civil verdicts against Trump in a New York federal court over the past two years. In 2023, Trump was ordered to pay $5 million after being found liable for sexually abusing and defaming Carroll. Additionally, a separate verdict awarded Carroll $83 million in damages for defamation by Trump while he was president.

Trump has denied all allegations and appealed both verdicts to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Recently, the appeals court rejected Trump’s appeal of the $5 million verdict, with his spokesperson stating that the decision will be further appealed.

The appeal for the $83 million verdict is still pending, with Carroll’s attorneys preparing to counter Trump’s claim that the Supreme Court’s July immunity ruling exempts him from liability for comments made while in office.

Jan. 6 lawsuits

Donald Trump is no longer facing a criminal federal election interference case related to the January 6, 2021, US Capitol riot, but he still has to contend with eight civil suits. These suits were filed by law enforcement personnel who were injured during the attack, as well as some Democratic members of Congress.

Trump’s defence is that his actions are protected by presidential immunity. Both sides will be submitting filings on this issue in the coming months. U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, who is presiding over the case, plans to rule on the presidential immunity issue by summer, according to a court filing.

Central Park Five

Donald Trump is facing a defamation lawsuit from the “Exonerated Five” – Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, and Korey Wise. The five men are suing Trump over remarks he made during a presidential debate with Kamala Harris, where he falsely claimed they pleaded guilty to the assault and rape of a woman in Central Park in 1989. Trump also incorrectly stated that the victim had died.

The Exonerated Five, who were aged 14-16 at the time of the attack, were coerced into making false confessions and later exonerated in 2002 after DNA evidence linked another man to the crime. Trump has moved to dismiss the suit, arguing that his remarks were “substantially true” and protected as political speech. However, the five men claim they suffered severe emotional distress and reputational harm due to Trump’s statements and are asking the judge to deny his motion to dismiss.
 

President-elect Donald Trump, who was to have been sentenced on November 26, fought to block that proceeding before he succeeds President Joe Biden in January. File
| Photo Credit: AP

The judge in President-elect Donald Trump’s criminal hush money case on Friday (November 22, 2024) delayed his sentencing indefinitely, in what the President-elect’s team called a “decisive win” as he prepares to return to the White House.

Mr. Trump, who was to have been sentenced on November 26, fought to block that proceeding before he succeeds President Joe Biden in January.

“The joint application for a stay of sentencing is granted to the extent that the November 26, 2024 date is adjourned,” Judge Juan Merchan said in an order in New York.

Mr. Trump’s legal team cited a landmark July ruling from the Supreme Court that gives presidents sweeping immunity for official acts committed while in office as justification for their request.

“In a decisive win for President Trump, the hoax Manhattan Case is now fully stayed and sentencing is adjourned,” Mr. Trump’s communications director Steven Cheung said in a statement.

“President Trump won a landslide victory as the American people have issued a mandate to return him to office and dispose of all remnants of the Witch Hunt cases,” he said.

Donald Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts in May after a jury found he had fraudulently manipulated business records to cover up an alleged sexual encounter with a porn star ahead of the 2016 election.

Prosecutors argued that concealing the alleged tryst was intended to help him win his first run for the White House.

‘Motion to dismiss’

Ahead of the election in November, Mr. Trump’s lawyers moved to have the case thrown out in light of the Supreme Court decision, a move which prosecutors firmly rejected.

On Friday (November 22, 2024), Merchan granted Trump leave to seek to have the conviction thrown out, likely meaning several further hearings that could be delayed once Mr. Trump is sworn in.

New York state prosecutors previously acknowledged in correspondence with the court the “unprecedented circumstances,” and called for the competing interests of the jury’s verdict and Mr. Trump’s election to be balanced.

The Republican president-elect has repeatedly derided the hush money case as a witch hunt.

Alongside the hush money case, Mr. Trump faces two active federal cases: one related to his effort to overturn the 2020 election and the other connected to classified documents he allegedly mishandled after leaving office.

In the election interference case, Special Counsel Jack Smith has moved to vacate deadlines, delaying it indefinitely — but not yet dropping it outright, in line with long-standing Justice Department policy not to prosecute sitting U.S. Presidents.

A Trump-appointed federal judge already threw out the documents case, but Mr. Smith had sought to appeal that decision.

As President, Mr. Trump would be able to intervene to end those cases.

Washington:

The year 2024 was set to be a judicial minefield for Donald Trump, with some thinking the former president could be behind bars before the November 5 presidential election.

However, the Republican candidate has managed to delay three of the four trials until after the election, despite facing 88 criminal charges in total.

He pulled it off via an array of appeals and other tactics by his army of lawyers, including a broad immunity ruling by the US Supreme Court.

He was only found guilty in the least serious case, which involved falsifying business records to cover up hush money payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels.

The latest good news for Trump came Friday, when a judge officially delayed his sentencing in that case to November 26 — weeks after the US presidential election.

Here’s an overview of how his legal woes look currently.

Challenging the 2020 election results

Donald Trump faces federal charges for his illegal attempts to reverse the results of the 2020 election won by US President Joe Biden.

Special prosecutor Jack Smith has charged Trump with the likes of “conspiracy to defraud the United States” and “obstructing an official proceeding,” among others.

Although Trump is not directly accused of the Capitol insurrection on January 6, 2021, Smith has alleged he stirred up violence and chaos.

The trial was initially set to begin March 4 in Washington, with Trump facing a potential sentence of decades in prison if found guilty.

However, the case was delayed significantly when the Supreme Court decided to rule on presidential immunity, issuing a decision in July that Trump had broad protection for “official acts” as president.

Smith filed a revised indictment in late August accounting for the ruling, but now has to restart the battle with Trump’s legal team about the trial’s timeline.

The judge in the case, Tanya Chutkan, acknowledged during a hearing Thursday that it would be impossible to set a new trial date in the two months before the election.

The 2020 election in Georgia

The former Republican president also faces charges in the southeastern US state of Georgia for alleged election interference, including a phone call where he asked a local official to “find” him 11,000 missing votes — the margin by which he lost the state to Joe Biden in 2020.

Trump had to visit an Atlanta prison to get his mug shot taken for the case, a humiliating first for a former US president.

However, the progress of the case suffered when it came out that the local prosecutor, Fani Willis, had an intimate relationship with an investigator she hired for it, Nathan Wade.

Trump’s lawyers advocated for the case to be dismissed due to the conflict of interest, and the Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity has not helped either.

As a result, the trial, which was initially supposed to start on August 5, has been officially paused while the matter winds through the court system for months to come.

The classified documents at Mar-a-Lago

In another federal case under special prosecutor Jack Smith, Trump faces accusations of retaining top-secret documents at his private residence in Mar-a-Lago, Florida.

He is also accused of attempting to destroy evidence of the retention. The most serious charges carry a prison sentence of 10 years.

Though originally set to go to trial on May 20, Trump scored a victory when Judge Aileen Cannon — who was appointed by the former president — stopped criminal proceedings on July 15, based on allegations that Smith had been appointed illegally.

Smith appealed the decision at the end of August to get the case back on track, but given the pace of federal appellate courts, it will likely be months before a decision is made.

The hush money sentencing

The financial crimes case in New York was the only one that made it to trial for Trump, taking place from mid-April until the end of May.

Despite claims by Trump the trial was “rigged,” a jury found Trump guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records to make hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels in order to avoid a scandal right before the 2016 presidential election.

Facing up to four years in prison, Trump was originally set to be sentenced in September.

However, on Friday, Judge Juan Merchan postponed the hearing until three weeks after the election, offering reprieve for the Republican candidate.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

U.S. former President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump departs after speaking during a press conference at Trump Tower in New York City on September 6, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AFP

A judge agreed Friday (September 6, 2024) to postpone Donald Trump’s sentencing in his hush-money case until after the November election, granting him a hard-won reprieve as he navigates the aftermath of his criminal conviction and the homestretch of his presidential campaign.

Manhattan Judge Juan M. Merchan, who is also weighing a defence request to overturn the verdict on immunity grounds, delayed Mr. Trump’s sentencing until November 26, several weeks after the final votes are cast in the presidential election.

It had been scheduled for September 18, about seven weeks before Election Day.

Mr. Trump’s lawyers pushed for the delay on multiple fronts, petitioning the judge and asking a federal court to intervene. They argued that punishing the former President and current Republican nominee in the thick of his campaign to retake the White House would amount to election interference.

Mr. Trump’s lawyers argued that delaying his sentencing until after the election would also allow him time to weigh the next steps after Mr. Merchan rules on the defence’s request to reverse his conviction and dismiss the case because of the U.S. Supreme Court’s July presidential immunity ruling.

In his order Friday, Mr. Merchan delayed a decision on that until November 12.

A federal judge on Tuesday (September 3, 2024) rejected Mr. Trump’s request to have the US District Court in Manhattan seize the case from Mr. Merchan’s State court. Had they been successful, Mr. Trump’s lawyers said they would have then sought to have the verdict overturned and the case dismissed on immunity grounds.

Mr. Trump is appealing the federal court ruling.

The Manhattan district attorney’s office, which prosecuted Mr. Trump’s case, deferred to Mr. Merchan and did not take a position on the defense’s delay request.

New York:

A judge postponed on Tuesday Donald Trump’s sentencing following his conviction for covering up hush money payments until September 18 to allow time for a Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity to be considered.

“The matter is adjourned to September 18, 2024, at 10 am for the imposition of sentence, if such is still necessary,” judge Juan Merchan said in a court filing.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Stormy Daniels, the adult film actor and director, has never been shy in her public battles with Donald Trump.

But ever since her starring role in the New York trial that made him the first former US president to be a felon, she’s not said a word.

It’s a relationship that could come from the pages of a bad novel — the playboy billionaire who wanted to be president and the porn actress who says they had a brief fling before she was sucked into illegal machinations intended to keep her quiet during an election.

A jury of 12 ordinary New Yorkers found Trump guilty on 34 counts of business fraud while attempting to cover up a hush money payment to Daniels on the eve of the tight 2016 election — which the Republican went on to win against Hillary Clinton.

After years of exchanging insults with Trump over social media, including during his four years in the White House, Stormy Daniels — whose real name is Stephanie Clifford — suddenly found she was the one with the power.

Her testimony, including graphic descriptions of what she says was a 2006 bout of casual sex, was crucial in the prosecution case, which needed to show that Trump was afraid any leak of the story would doom his campaign.

In the aftermath, though, the 45-year-old has kept uncharacteristically quiet.

Her husband Barrett Blade told CNN that “she’s still processing.”

He suggested there could be more to her silence.

“You know, all the MAGA idiots are going to be coming after her,” he said, referring to Trump’s Make America Great Again movement.

In a bitterly divided country, those fears may not be far-fetched.

Daniels was wearing a bulletproof vest when she went to the New York courthouse, her lawyer Clark Brewster confirmed in an interview with a local ABC News channel.

“It’s so vicious and threatening and so I think from the standpoint of just the fear of what somebody might do,” he said of the atmosphere for Daniels.

“It was really fear.”

Asked if this apprehension has increased in the wake of the Trump guilty verdict, Brewster said: “That would be a logical conclusion.”

– ‘Weight on her shoulders’ –

Despite the emotional toll, Daniels feels “a little vindicated that you know, she was telling the truth,” Blade said.

He said Daniels had not sought to face Trump across the courtroom in a case brought by Manhattan prosecutors.

The end of the trial is a relief — “a big weight off her shoulders” — Blade said.

The stress, though, is hardly over.

“It brings another weight upon her shoulders of what happens next,” Blade said. “We take it day by day.”

Daniels is a self-made woman who rose from a difficult childhood and through the challenging world of adult movies to become a successful businesswoman.

But in a recent documentary, she revealed that behind her outwardly tough, humorous persona on social media, she has been hurt by the constant insults from Trump and his supporters.

“Back in 2018 that was stuff like ‘liar,’ ‘slut,’ ‘gold digger,” she said in the film, “Stormy.”

“This time around, it is very different. It is direct threats, it is, ‘I’m going to come to your house and slit your throat,’ ‘your daughter should be euthanized.'”

By contrast, the other main prosecution witness in the trial, Trump’s former fixer Michael Cohen, has been eagerly telling his story in the wake of the trial.

The disgraced lawyer, who testified that he was at the heart of the former president’s scheme to silence Daniels, has appeared on MSNBC and other major media.

“It was emotionally draining,” Cohen told ABC News, adding that he was glad to have gone through the ordeal.

“I want people to also remember, I take responsibility for what I did,” he said. “I accepted it and in part went to prison for it.”

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

New York:

After approximately five weeks, 19 witnesses, reams of documents and a dash of salacious testimony, the prosecution against Donald Trump rested its case Monday, handing over to the defense before closing arguments expected next week.

Trump’s team immediately sought to undermine key testimony against the former president, who is accused of covering up hush money paid to a porn star over an alleged encounter that could have derailed his successful 2016 White House bid.

His attorneys called lawyer Robert Costello — who once advised star prosecution witness Michael Cohen before falling out with him — in an apparent attempt to puncture Cohen’s credibility.

But Costello’s start on the stand was shaky at best, as his dismissive tone provoked an angry response from Judge Juan Merchan.

The judge ordered the jury out of the courtroom to admonish Costello, and, still unsatisfied, also ordered the press and others to briefly leave.

Trump, speaking to reporters afterward, called the episode “an incredible display,” branding the proceedings “a show trial” and the judge “a tyrant.”

Extended quibbling among the two legal teams, along with the upcoming holiday weekend, means closing arguments that the judge had hoped could start Tuesday are now anticipated for next week.

It’s unlikely and risky, but the door remains open for Trump to take the stand in the criminal trial, the first ever of a former US president.

Experts doubt he will, as it would expose him to unnecessary legal jeopardy and forensic cross-examination by prosecutors — but his lawyer Todd Blanche has raised the prospect.

– Marathon questioning –

On Monday, Blanche finished his third day of questioning Cohen after hours of at times digressive, at other times bruising, exchanges.

Cohen, Trump’s former personal lawyer and fixer, recounted last week how he kept Trump informed about $130,000 paid to porn star Stormy Daniels to buy her silence about an alleged affair ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

Trump’s lawyers set out to paint Cohen as a convicted criminal and habitual liar, recalling his time in prison for tax fraud and lying to Congress.

Blanche also probed Cohen’s loyalty to Trump and then to the prosecution, looking to show jurors that Cohen is self-serving and willing to go to great lengths to accomplish his aims.

Blanche vied to goad Cohen, who has a reputation for a short temper that could have hurt him on the stand — but the witness largely maintained his composure.

Cohen’s story generally lined up with Daniels and David Pecker, the tabloid boss who said he worked with Trump and Cohen to suppress negative coverage during the Republican’s White House run.

After Blanche finished with him, the prosecution returned for redirect, with prosecutor Susan Hoffinger asking Cohen what the whole experience has meant for him.

“My entire life has been turned upside down,” Cohen said, genuine emotion in his voice. “I lost my law license, my financial security… my family’s happiness… just to name a few.”

– Trump 2024 –

Trump meanwhile has complained his 2024 election campaign for another White House term is being stymied by the weeks-long court proceedings, which he has to attend every day.

He did so again Monday, complaining to journalists he’s “not allowed to have anything to do with politics because I’m sitting in a very freezing cold, dark room for the last four weeks. It’s very unfair.”

Calling the case politicized, a coterie of leading Republicans have stood in the wings behind him as he gives remarks to reporters outside the courtroom.

The growing list includes several lawmakers eyeing Trump’s vice presidential pick, including Ohio Senator JD Vance and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum.

Yet despite the palace intrigue and courtroom drama, the charges ultimately hinge on financial records, and whether falsifying them was done with intent to sway the 2016 presidential vote.

When the jury begins deliberating, the often juicy testimony will likely linger, but they will also have stacks of documents to consider.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New York:

Donald Trump’s legal battles pinballed from victory to defeat Monday as he was offered a lifeline in his struggle to stave off a half billion dollar fraud judgement while a New York judge rejected efforts to delay a separate criminal trial.

A New York state appeals court slashed a potentially crippling $454 million bond payment due on Monday to $175 million and gave the former president 10 extra days to pay.

The Republican presidential candidate got the unexpectedly positive news about his New York civil fraud case while he was sitting in court for another case — a hearing in his upcoming criminal trial over paying hush money to a porn star. 

Judge Juan Merchan rejected demands from Trump’s lawyers to delay the first ever criminal trial of a former president for at least 90 days and ordered jury selection to begin on April 15.

Trump faces charges of falsifying business records for the payments made on the eve of the 2016 presidential election to make sure porn star Stormy Daniels did not publicize a sexual encounter.

“You are literally accusing the Manhattan (District Attorney’s) office and the people assigned to this case of prosecutorial misconduct and trying to make me complicit in it,” a visibly exasperated Merchan told Trump’s attorneys during the hearing in a Manhattan courtroom.

Trump had also been facing a Monday deadline to pay the huge original bond pending an appeal against a judge’s decision that he is liable for fraudulently conspiring to inflate his net worth.

Trump made clear he was unable to find the $454 million and he risked seeing New York state confiscate parts of his property empire if he failed to come up with the bond.

– ‘Rigged cases’ –

The 77-year-old Trump welcomed the appellate panel ruling while denouncing the hush money case as “election interference” and a “witch hunt.”

“I greatly respect the decision of the appellate division and I will post $175 million in cash and bonds or security or whatever is necessary, very quickly, within the 10 days,” he told reporters.

The hush money trial had been scheduled to begin on Monday but was delayed because thousands of pages of potential evidence were belatedly produced by prosecutors.

On Truth Social, Trump denounced both cases as a politically motivated attack ahead of the November 5 presidential election when he will likely again face incumbent Democrat Joe Biden.

“These are Rigged cases, all coordinated by the White House and DOJ for purposes of Election Interference,” Trump wrote. “No crime. Our Country is CORRUPT!”

Trump regularly rails against a judicial system he claims is “fixed” against him.

He has said that New York Attorney General Letitia James — who is Black — is “racist,” and accused Judge Arthur Engeron in the civil fraud case of being “crooked.”

Trump got some positive financial news last week when it was announced that Truth Social would finally go public through a merger, a transaction that could net him billions of dollars.

He cannot tap into the funds for six months, but it potentially could help him secure the bond.

However, in case of non-payment, James could still order a freeze on his bank accounts, or move to seize some of his New York properties.

– Seeking more delays –

Trump’s lawyers have pursued every avenue to delay his many trials — if possible until after the presidential vote.

In the trial involving Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, Trump is accused of illegally using campaign funds to secure her silence about an alleged sexual encounter back in 2006.

If she’d spoken out, the fallout could have been ruinous for Trump’s presidential hopes, coming right on the heels of another scandal over the married businessman’s boasting, caught on tape, that as a celebrity he was freely able to “grab” women by their genitals.

Trump also faces charges of seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 election and for holding on to classified documents after leaving the White House.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)