Investigating Trump’s Pending Criminal Cases

Former President Donald Trump was found guilty last week of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in his New York hush money trial. However, a delay in one of his three remaining criminal cases means Trump is unlikely to stand trial again before the November presidential election.

Georgia election interference case

An appeals court has scheduled a hearing for October on Trump’s attempt to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from his election interference case in Georgia.

Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee ruled in March that Willis can remain on the case, but she had to cut ties with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, with whom she had a romantic relationship. Wade was hired to oversee the investigation into Trump and 18 others’ alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia.

The appeals court is not expected to rule on the matter until at least next spring. Regardless of how it rules, the matter could be appealed again to the Georgia Supreme Court.

Presidential immunity case

The U.S. Supreme Court is considering Trump’s claim of presidential immunity in his alleged role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots in Washington, D.C.

Lawyers for Trump argue that allegations he illegally attempted to prevent President Joe Biden from taking office in 2021 were acts taken when he was still president and are subject to absolute immunity from criminal prosecution. The trial in that case was scheduled to begin on March 4, but Judge Tanya Chutkan decided to delay the case while the immunity claim is being decided.

The case is now on hold until the Supreme Court rules on it, and the timing of the court’s opinion is uncertain.

Classified documents case

Extensive pretrial motions have indefinitely delayed Trump’s trial for allegedly retaining classified material after leaving the White House. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon vacated the start date of the trial last month before it was scheduled to begin on May 20.

Judge Cannon, who was appointed by Trump, set the May date as a compromise between the prosecution’s plea to set the trial in December and the defense’s request to postpone it until after the 2024 presidential election.

In a filing, Judge Cannon wrote: “Finalization of a trial date at this juncture — before resolution of the myriad and interconnected pre-trial and CIPA issues remaining and forthcoming — would be imprudent and inconsistent with the Court’s duty to fully and fairly consider the various pending pre-trial motions before the Court, critical CIPA issues, and additional pretrial and trial preparations necessary to present this case to a jury.”

Judge Cannon has not set a replacement date for the trial.