By — Nicole Ellis Nicole Ellis By — Casey Kuhn Casey Kuhn Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/trumps-legal-cases-explained Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Trump’s legal cases, explained Politics Jun 16, 2023 5:09 PM EDT This week Donald Trump became the first former U.S. president to ever be indicted on federal criminal charges. The 37 criminal counts Trump faces in this most recent federal arraignment come on the heels of a New York State indictment on 34 felony counts, among other legal challenges. READ MORE: Trump faces 4 investigations. Here’s where they stand The two indictments that Trump is currently facing are just the beginning of what will “probably be the biggest stress test that the American justice system has faced in the nation’s history,” Politico legal editor James Romoser told PBS NewsHour digital anchor Nicole Ellis. Watch the conversation in the player above. As of now, Trump is facing the following legal challenges: Current indictments Federal indictment on 37 criminal counts for allegedly retaining classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago home after he left the White House and his alleged effort to obstruct the government’s attempts to recover those documents. New York state indictment on 34 criminal counts for falsifying business records around alleged hush money payments to Stephanie Clifford, also known as Stormy Daniels, in the final days of the 2016 campaign. Ongoing criminal investigations Georgia state investigation into alleged efforts to interfere with the 2020 election results. Federal investigation into alleged attempts to derail the transfer of presidential power on Jan. 6 Civil cases Ongoing: New York Attorney General Letitia James is suing the Trump Organization for allegedly lying to lenders and insurers by overvaluing his company and assets. A trial is currently scheduled for October, Verdict reached: Trump was found guilty of sexual assault and defamation against advice columnist E. Jean Carroll, but found not guilty of rape in a civil suit in New York. The court awarded Carroll an estimated $5 million in compensatory and punitive damage. Carroll’s lawyers amended the lawsuit, however, following comments Trump made about her after the verdict was announced. They are seeking at least $10 million in that amended case. The most recent federal indictment is critical, Romoser said, based on the severity of the national security crimes alleged. “He’s accused of violating the Espionage Act, which doesn’t just criminalize spying itself, but criminalizes a wide range of behavior in relation to sensitive national security information,” he said. Despite the severity of the crimes alleged against Trump, Romoser said the indictments and ongoing investigations do not impede his ability to run for president and that, so far, Republicans don’t seem to be wavering in their support. “Trump is aggressively fundraising off of these indictments. He’s trying to use it to galvanize his support among the Republicans. And so far, it seems to be working,” Romoser said. We're not going anywhere. Stand up for truly independent, trusted news that you can count on! Donate now By — Nicole Ellis Nicole Ellis Nicole Ellis is PBS NewsHour's digital anchor where she hosts pre- and post-shows and breaking news live streams on digital platforms and serves as a correspondent for the nightly broadcast. Ellis joined the NewsHour from The Washington Post, where she was an Emmy nominated on-air reporter and anchor covering social issues and breaking news. In this role, she hosted, produced, and directed original documentaries and breaking news videos for The Post’s website, YouTube, Amazon Prime, Facebook and Twitch, earning a National Outstanding Breaking News Emmy Nomination for her coverage of Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Ellis created and hosted The Post’s first original documentary series, “Should I freeze my eggs?,” in which she explores her own fertility and received the 2019 Digiday Publishers Award. She also created and hosted the Webby Award-winning news literacy series “The New Normal,” the most viewed video series in the history of The Washington Post’s women’s vertical, The Lily. She is the author of “We Go High,” a non-fiction self-help-by-proxy book on overcoming adversity publishing in 2022, and host of Critical Conversations on BookClub, an author-led book club platform. Prior to that, Ellis was a part of the production team for the Peabody and Emmy Award-winning series, CNN Heroes. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and Human Rights from Columbia University, as well as a Master’s in Journalism from Columbia Journalism School. By — Casey Kuhn Casey Kuhn Casey is a producer for NewsHour's digital video team. She has won several awards for her work in broadcast journalism, including a national Edward R. Murrow award. @caseyatthedesk
This week Donald Trump became the first former U.S. president to ever be indicted on federal criminal charges. The 37 criminal counts Trump faces in this most recent federal arraignment come on the heels of a New York State indictment on 34 felony counts, among other legal challenges. READ MORE: Trump faces 4 investigations. Here’s where they stand The two indictments that Trump is currently facing are just the beginning of what will “probably be the biggest stress test that the American justice system has faced in the nation’s history,” Politico legal editor James Romoser told PBS NewsHour digital anchor Nicole Ellis. Watch the conversation in the player above. As of now, Trump is facing the following legal challenges: Current indictments Federal indictment on 37 criminal counts for allegedly retaining classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago home after he left the White House and his alleged effort to obstruct the government’s attempts to recover those documents. New York state indictment on 34 criminal counts for falsifying business records around alleged hush money payments to Stephanie Clifford, also known as Stormy Daniels, in the final days of the 2016 campaign. Ongoing criminal investigations Georgia state investigation into alleged efforts to interfere with the 2020 election results. Federal investigation into alleged attempts to derail the transfer of presidential power on Jan. 6 Civil cases Ongoing: New York Attorney General Letitia James is suing the Trump Organization for allegedly lying to lenders and insurers by overvaluing his company and assets. A trial is currently scheduled for October, Verdict reached: Trump was found guilty of sexual assault and defamation against advice columnist E. Jean Carroll, but found not guilty of rape in a civil suit in New York. The court awarded Carroll an estimated $5 million in compensatory and punitive damage. Carroll’s lawyers amended the lawsuit, however, following comments Trump made about her after the verdict was announced. They are seeking at least $10 million in that amended case. The most recent federal indictment is critical, Romoser said, based on the severity of the national security crimes alleged. “He’s accused of violating the Espionage Act, which doesn’t just criminalize spying itself, but criminalizes a wide range of behavior in relation to sensitive national security information,” he said. Despite the severity of the crimes alleged against Trump, Romoser said the indictments and ongoing investigations do not impede his ability to run for president and that, so far, Republicans don’t seem to be wavering in their support. “Trump is aggressively fundraising off of these indictments. He’s trying to use it to galvanize his support among the Republicans. And so far, it seems to be working,” Romoser said. We're not going anywhere. Stand up for truly independent, trusted news that you can count on! Donate now