Trump faces 4 investigations. Heres where they stand – PBS NewsHour

Evelyn Knapp walks past a flag featuring former President Donald Trump that supporters are flying near his Mar-a-Lago home on March 20, 2023, in Palm Beach, Florida. Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images

This story originally appeared in Here's the Deal, our weekly politics newsletter. For more politics coverage and analysis, sign up here.

Former President Donald Trump has predicted he will be arrested this week, on charges related to a hush money payment aimed at covering up an alleged affair. A Manhattan grand jury is expected to issue an indictment soon, according to multiple reports.

But that is just one in a small constellation of investigations circling him. Here's a look at the government probes into Trump.

There are four known government-run investigations into Trump or his business. Let's first look at them in terms of location and prosecutorial scale, from national to local.

Trump has repeatedly and vociferously denied wrongdoing in all of these cases. He has alleged prosecutors have open political bias against him, and that he is being targeted by left-leaning officials.

Now, a little about each one, in order of when we expect to hear about charging decisions or next steps.

What is this case about? Hush money and potential accounting and campaign finance violations. This surrounds a 2016 payment of $130,000 to Clifford. The grand jury is scrutinizing the money that was paid to gain her silence about an affair she said she had with Trump in 2006 and 2007. Trump's response to the case has varied. Trump has acknowledged he was aware of the payment, but he and his spokespeople contend he did not understand its full nature.

Who is the prosecutor? The Manhattan district attorney is Alvin Bragg. He was elected to that job last November.

What are possible charges?

Isn't there a statute of limitations involved here? Yes. The accounting fraud charge has a two-year statute of limitation as a misdemeanor and five years as a felony. BUT, New York law extends that timing if a defendant has lived for a significant time out of the state. As president, Trump lived and worked in the White House and his Florida home. If these charges appear, expect this to be a point of contention.

When might we hear? News of a possible indictment is expected any day now. The grand jury in the case will next meet Wednesday.

What is this case about? Whether Trump interfered with, including if he tried to overturn, the 2020 election results in Georgia. This case includes the January 2021 call from Trump to Georgia's Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, in which Trump repeatedly said he needed 11,000 more votes.

Why Fulton County? The county contains Atlanta, the state capital. It also is the most populous county in Georgia. In addition, it has a prosecutor who wanted to launch the case.

Who is the prosecutor? Fulton County's district attorney is Fani Willis. She took office in January 2021. Willis called a "special purpose grand jury" to review evidence and make recommendations in this case.

What are possible charges? There is a wide range of potential charges here, and some may not be clear yet. A member of the grand jury convened for this case told the Atlanta Journal Constitution that the group recommended multiple indictments.

They could include:

When might we hear? Soon. Willis said in January that decisions are "imminent." On Monday, Trump's attorneys filed a motion to keep the final grand jury report secret and remove the district attorney's office from the case. Some see that as indication that he too expects news from the DA soon.

Subscribe to Here's the Deal, our politics newsletter for analysis you won't find anywhereelse.

What is this case about? Whether Trump and others involved in the Trump Organization committed fraud by inflating values of some assets, including properties, to get loans and other business benefits.

This is not a criminal case. Instead, this is a civil lawsuit filed by the state attorney general. She does not have the ability to file criminal charges, though she has referred the case to the Manhattan district attorney for that possibility.

Who is the attorney general involved? New York's attorney general is Letitia James. She was first elected in 2018.

What are the possible consequences? Again, the New York attorney general's lawsuit is not a criminal case and thus there are no charges involved. But there are serious stakes for Trump and some family members.

When could we hear? This case is set to go to trial in October.

A view of former U.S. President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort. Photo by Ricardo Arduengo/Reuters

What is this case about? This is a set of two investigations connected to Trump, overseen by a single, independent prosecutor at the Department of Justice. The order establishing the special counsel lays out two areas:

Who is the prosecutor? The special counsel is Jack Smith, who formerly served as the chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court in the Hague. Previous to that, he oversaw the public integrity unit at the DOJ.

What are the possible charges? The spectrum of charges is large and much is unknown about how the special counsel is proceeding. But we have some outside guidance.

First, the House Select Committee to Investigate January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol recommended four charges against Trump to the DOJ in its final report.

Multiple outlets report that the special counsel also is looking into the Save America PAC, through which Trump raised millions of dollars after the election with his false 2020 claims. Specific possible charges, based on previous cases about fraudulent PACs, include:

Regarding the classified documents, some possible charges are indicated in the FBI's search warrant of Mar-a-Lago:

Note: A separate special counsel is overseeing an investigation into possible mishandling of classified documents by President Joe Biden.

When could we hear? It is unclear. Special Counsel Smith, appointed in November, is overseeing a massive probe here. His appointment does not have an end date.

But the directive establishing his investigation also notes that Trump is a current candidate for president, leading to speculation that Smith may want to complete what he can before that election cycle moves too far, including before 2024 arrives.

CNN reported in December that he was moving "fast."

Let's recap:

The rest is here:
Trump faces 4 investigations. Heres where they stand - PBS NewsHour

Related Posts

Comments are closed.