Former President Donald Trump is the first president in United States history to be indicted, and the cases are adding up. Over the last five months, the former president has been slammed with four indictments with felony charges which may land him in prison. None of the cases have gone to trial yet, but dates are currently being set by prosecutors.
Meanwhile, Trump is the frontrunner for the GOP and his party’s support has not waived significantly in the political landscape. Some Republican politicians agree with the charges, others condemn them. At this time, it is completely possible for Trump to be elected president from prison. Much of the 2024 presidential election may balance on the public perception of these cases and whether Trump is found guilty or not.
That all being said, these cases can be hard to understand given the jargon and confusing processes that come with indictments. Here is a short breakdown of the cases:
Manhattan Criminal Case
The former president’s first indictment came in March 2023. The Manhattan district attorney charged Trump over an alleged hush-money payment made to adult film star Stormy Daniels in 2016. According to the prosecutors, the money was part of an illegal conspiracy to undermine the integrity of the 2016 election. This investigation has been ongoing since 2018.
Trump is pleading not guilty to 34 felony counts over falsifying business records. The trial is scheduled for March 25, 2024.
Classified Documents
The Justice Department opened the investigation in 2022, and an FBI search of Trump’s home in Florida, Mar-a-Lago, resulted in a seizure of 102 classified documents.
In June 2023, a federal grand jury in Miami indicted Trump for taking the national defense documents from the White House and showing them to unauthorized individuals. Trump is pleading not guilty to 40 felony counts. Trump’s aide, Walt Nauta, is also pleading not guilty to six felony counts.
An update from the case came later that month, which added three new felony counts for Trump and two more for Nauta. Trump’s property manager in Florida, Carlos de Oliveira, was also indicted on four felony counts. In totality, this case has the most charges of the four.
The trial is scheduled for May 20, 2024.
Jan. 6 Insurrection
The Justice Department opened this investigation in Dec. 2021 following the conflicts of the 2020 presidential election. The indictment alleges Trump and his allies attempted to overturn the election by exploiting the violence that occurred during the Capitol riots on Jan. 6, 2021.
The grand jury indictment, which came down on Aug.1, 2023, also alleges that allies pushed former Vice President Mike Pence to delay President Joe Biden’s win.
Trump is pleading not guilty to his four counts. The trial is scheduled for March 4, 2024.
Georgia Election Interference
The investigation into the case began in Feb. 2021, but it wasn’t until Aug.14 that a grand jury indicted Trump and 18 others in efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
This is the most recent indictment and the charges cover some of the most overt efforts of Trump and his allies to overturn the election, including the spread of lies about voter fraud and Trump’s calls to Georgia officials and state lawmakers to reverse Biden’s win.
As it’s the most recent case to indict the former president, no trial date has been set yet.
Claire Schiopota is a senior studying journalism. Please note that the opinions expressed in this column do not reflect those of The Post. Want Claire to cover a certain topic or talk about her column? Email her at cs123719@ohio.edu or tweet her @CSchiopota.
