On Monday, Donald Trump has appeart in court on charges of allegedly making illegal payments to a porn actress. He is the first former U.S. president to face criminal trial. But that's not his only legal issue.
He also faces over 20 civil and criminal cases, which include charges related to the Capitol assault by his supporters in 2021, several allegations of sexual assault, and irregularities in managing his businesses.
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Additionally, in February 2023, a New York judge fined him US$350 million for fraud cases in his family company and restricted his business dealings in the state for years to come.
The trial beginning today focuses on Trump's alleged hush-money payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels to "buy her silence" during the 2016 election campaign.
This year, Trump also faces court proceedings in Georgia and Washington DC for allegedly attempting to overturn the 2020 presidential election results, which he lost to Joe Biden.
In Florida, he's accused of illegally taking and keeping classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate, which he removed from the White House after leaving office.
Sexual Misconduct Cases
Before the Stormy Daniels case, Trump was already the first former president convicted in civil court. A New York court found him guilty of sexual assault and defamation in the lawsuit filed by E. Jean Carroll, ordering him to pay US$83 million to the writer.
Carroll had filed two civil suits against Trump, one for defamation and another for a rape allegedly occurring in a Fifth Avenue store's dressing rooms in the mid-1990s. Additionally, he's been accused by about 20 women of sexual abuse or inappropriate conduct.
Capitol Assault in 2021
On April 25, the Supreme Court will hear arguments on Trump's claim of immunity for potential crimes during his presidency (2017-2021), which could thwart efforts to try him for his role in the 2021 Capitol assault.
These events, aimed at reversing the 2020 election outcome, resulted in five deaths and nearly 140 injured officers. The Supreme Court will clarify whether Trump can face criminal trial in a federal court in the District of Columbia or if he's protected by presidential immunity, given that the events occurred shortly before he left office.
The trial against Trump in Washington DC was postponed after the Supreme Court granted his lawyers' request to rule on a lower appellate court's decision, which had determined that the former president couldn't shield himself behind immunity in his judicial process for attempting to subvert the 2020 election result, won by Democrat Biden.
In August 2023, Trump was indicted by a Washington DC grand jury on four different conspiracy charges, and subsequently, the Appeals Court confirmed he had no immunity and could be sued civilly and criminally.
He also faces 13 charges for allegedly attempting to manipulate the 2020 election results in Georgia, where another 18 people, including Rudy Giuliani, his former lawyer and New York's ex-mayor, and Mark Meadows, his former Chief of Staff, are implicated.
On March 4, 2023, the Supreme Court unanimously rejected attempts by the states of Colorado, Illinois, and Maine to remove Trump from the Republican Party primaries, arguing that his involvement in the 2021 Capitol assault amounted to an "insurrection."
Classified Documents Theft
On June 8, 2023, Trump was charged with revealing secrets and obstructing justice in at least 37 federal crimes related to classified documents.
FBI agents searched Mar-a-Lago, Trump's mansion in Palm Beach, Florida, in August 2022, and found files related to the pardon of his longtime associate Roger J. Stone Jr., and a dossier on French President Emmanuel Macron, among other documents.