At this time last year, Donald Trump was facing the prospect of four criminal trials that could put him behind bars for years, and hundreds of millions of dollars in penalties from civil cases that had been brought against him.
Now the criminal cases against him are in jeopardy — the two federal prosecutions have already been dismissed, while the two state cases are stalled — and appeals courts might whittle down the hefty civil judgments against him.
The change in circumstance is largely due to Trump’s election win — the federal cases were dropped because of a Justice Department legal opinion that sitting presidents can’t be prosecuted, a position Trump’s lawyers have said should be applied to the state cases, as well.
Trump’s attorneys in his civil cases, meanwhile, are trying to use his soon-to-be office to their benefit, as well.
His spokesperson, Steven Cheung, said in a statement that Trump’s election was a “mandate” from the American people, who “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.”
Here’s a look at where the various court cases against the president-elect stand, and how they may — or may not — be affected by his inauguration Jan. 20.
Hush money case
Trump was convicted in New York state court in May of 34 counts of falsifying business records related to a hush money payment his then-lawyer Michael Cohen paid porn star Stormy Daniels in the closing days of the 2016 presidential election. Daniels claimed she had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006, an allegation he has denied.
Trump, who pleaded not guilty to the charges, was initially set to be sentenced in July, a date that got pushed back after the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision that created a new standard for presidential immunity. His attorneys argued that the high court’s ruling meant the indictment and conviction should be tossed out, since they relied in part on evidence related to Trump’s time in office.
Judge Juan Merchan rejected that argument in a Dec. 16 ruling, but he has yet to rule on Trump’s separate, more sweeping motion to dismiss the case, or to set a new date for Trump’s sentencing.
The judge seemed to indicate in another decision that same day knocking down Trump’s argument that he’s already protected by immunity as president-elect that it might not be possible to sentence him after he takes office.
Merchan noted that the Justice Department memo and the Supreme Court ruling both “speak to the need for a sitting President to be free to fully discharge the powers and duties of his office without criminal process interfering with his ability to carry out his constitutional functions.”
The Manhattan district attorney’s office has argued that Merchan could sentence Trump once his term in office is done, a position Trump’s attorneys say should be denied because he’d have the prospect of a criminal sentencing hanging over his head for the duration of his time in office.
The judge has yet to rule on the issue.
Georgia election interference case
Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis’ office indicted Trump and 18 co-defendants in August 2023 on charges of conspiring to illegally overturn his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden in the state. Trump pleaded not guilty.
No trial date was ever set in the case, which was stalled for several months over allegations of conflict of interest involving Willis. Trump and some of his co-defendants argued that she should be disqualified because of those allegations, which centered on a romantic relationship she had with the special prosecutor she’d appointed to oversee the case.
A Georgia appeals court sided with Trump in a Dec. 19 ruling, ordering Willis and her office to be disqualified from the case. Willis’ office is appealing the ruling, a process that can take several months.
Even if her appeal is successful, she would have to wait until Trump was out of office to try him, since the trial has been estimated to take months.
If the Georgia Supreme Court decides not to hear the appeal or if her appeal is unsuccessful, the case would be referred to the executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia, which would have to find another prosecutor for the sprawling, labor-intensive case.
The council’s executive director, Pete Skandalakis, told NBC News last year that if someone new took over the case, the person would be able to use the investigative work that has been completed by the DA’s office, but would also have the ability to do additional investigative work and to use — or discard — some or all of Willis’ indictment.
Civil fraud verdict
The biggest potential financial blow looming over the president-elect comes from the $350 million judgment a New York judge hit him and his company with in February of last year after finding they had engaged in years of fraudulent conduct.
Trump has denied the allegations in the lawsuit from state Attorney General Letitia James’ office and appealed the judgment, which has since swelled to more than $500 million with interest. Trump is on the hook for almost $489 million of that amount.
