Where Donald Trump's criminal and civil cases stand
Trump found liable for sexual abuse weeks after becoming first president to be indicted
EDITOR'S NOTE: This story was originally published on March 22. It has been updated to reflect that Trump says he has been indicted on charges of mishandling classified documents.
Donald Trump says he's been indicted on charges of mishandling classified documents at his Florida estate, the latest development in multiple, ongoing legal probes into the former U.S. president's conduct and dealings.
Special counsel Jack Smith, appointed by the Justice Department in late 2022, is overseeing at least two probes involving Trump.
The Justice Department is investigating whether Trump or anyone in his orbit obstructed efforts by federal agencies to recover classified documents, which included top-secret material, from his Florida estate.
Trump lawyer Evan Corcoran appeared before a grand jury in that case for a second time on March 24.
Corcoran last year drafted a statement to the Justice Department in response to a subpoena that asserted a "diligent search" for classified documents had been conducted at Mar-a-Lago. Months later, FBI agents searched the home with a warrant and found roughly 100 additional documents with classified markings, including some designated as top secret, the highest classification.
The efforts by Trump and his allies to allege unsubstantiated electoral fraud and overturn the 2020 election results, events that influenced the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, also represent an investigation that predates Smith's appointment.
Vice-president Mike Pence, who enraged Trump by not unilaterally declaring him the winner of the 2020 election in a congressional proceeding, has been summoned to appear before a grand jury.
Pence's spokesman said on April 5 that he will not appeal a judge's ruling that requires him to testify about conversations he had with Trump leading up to the Jan. 6 attack. The Trump legal team can appeal the ruling but if it stands, Pence's testimony in a closed-door session is expected in the coming weeks.
Trump found liable for sexual abuse
In May, Trump was found criminally liable for sexual abuse related to an incident in the mid-1990s after a three-week civil trial in one of two defamation suits filed by a New York columnist.
The verdict came five weeks after Trump became the first U.S. president to be criminally indicted, surrendering to officials for arraignment in a hush-money case with origins stretching back to the 2016 election campaign.
In the civil trial, columnist E. Jean Carroll, 79, testified that Trump raped her in spring 1996 in the dressing room of midtown Manhattan department store Bergdorf Goodman. The jury denied that claim, but awarded Carroll $5 million US in damages after finding the preponderance of evidence supported the claims of sexual abuse, as well as defamation stemming from a late 2022 Trump social media post.
The jury watched parts of a deposition in late 2022 in which Trump doubled down on his claims from an Access Hollywood recording, in which he bragged that famous men can get away with grabbing women by the genitals.
WATCH | Carroll testifies about alleged incident:
Trump's legal team filed a notice to appeal two days after the verdict.
Trump, once again a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, vehemently denied the allegations, but courted trouble by calling them a "made up story" invented by a "whack job" in a CNN town hall event on May 10.
As a result, Carroll's legal team is seeking at least $10 million in additional damages for her original defamation claim, stemming from Trump comments made about her in 2019 while he was president. A trial date has yet to be set in that case.
Here's a refresher on the status on the major investigations and cases confronting Trump.
New York hush money case
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said on April 4 that Trump's indictment in New York alleges business records were falsified to cover up alleged state and federal election law violations as a result of hush-money payments. While falsification of business records on its own is a misdemeanour, punishable by a sentence of less than one year, it is considered a felony punishable by up to four years in prison if it is done to conceal or further other crimes.
The case revolves around payoffs made to ensure the silence of adult film star Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal, who both allege having affairs with the married Trump.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts.
Michael Cohen, his former lawyer, served prison time in a federal case concerning the payments.
Judge Juan Manuel Merchan has set a trial date of March 25, 2024.
Trump's lawyers have asked a federal court to take control of the criminal case, arguing that the former president can't be tried in the state court where his historic indictment was brought because the alleged conduct occurred while he was in office.
Georgia election interference
A special grand jury in Georgia heard from 75 witnesses last year on attempts by Trump and his allies to overturn a Joe Biden win in that state in the 2020 election. They wrapped in December, producing a report with recommendations for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
The jury heard the publicly released January 2021 phone call in which the former president pressed Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to "find" enough Trump votes to reverse Biden's victory. The jury forewoman told multiple media outlets the jury recommended several indictments, and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution has reported that jurors also heard a separate recording not previously known, in which Trump allegedly pressures a top state legislator.
Willis wrote in a letter to Atlanta's police chief, the head of the Atlanta-Fulton County Emergency Management Agency and the Fulton County Sheriff's Office that she expects to announce the decisions sometime between July 11 and Sept. 1. Willis said in the letter that "decisions in this case may provoke a significant public reaction."
One thing to watch: on May 5, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed a bill into law creating a new commission empowered to discipline and remove wayward prosecutors, saying it will curb "far-left prosecutors." Some have viewed the law as Republican retribution against Willis, who is considering criminal charges against Trump.
Trump Organization allegations
New York Attorney General Letitia James sued the Trump Organization and several of its principals last September over an alleged decade-long scheme to manipulate asset valuations and Trump's net worth, in order to gain favourable terms from lenders and insurers.
Trial is set for Oct. 2. The defendants also include Trump's children Donald Jr., Eric and Ivanka, and former Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg, who recently served a short prison term in a separate case stemming from company practices.
With files from Reuters and the Associated Press