A Guide to the Criminal Cases Against Donald Trump
This story was updated on Jan. 21, 2025, to reflect new developments.
In 2023, Donald Trump became the first former president of the United States to be criminally indicted when he was charged in four separate criminal cases — two federal and two state — over the course of five months.
With President Trump now back in office, here’s a look at where things stand in the four cases. The two federal cases have been dismissed, in deference to Department of Justice policy that prohibits prosecution of a sitting president. Trump was convicted in a separate case in New York, and given a sentence that included no time in prison, probation or fines, and Trump’s lawyers have requested the dismissal of the other state case in Georgia, which remains in limbo.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him. He has insisted that the cases are politically motivated and his lawyers argued that presidents have absolute immunity from prosecution for actions taken while in office.
Here are key details of how the criminal cases against Trump have evolved.
The New York State “Hush Money” Case
Date Indicted March 30, 2023
Scheduled Trial Date The trial started with jury selection on April 15, 2024.
Court New York State Supreme Court
Judge Overseeing New York Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan
Person Leading the Investigation Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg
Charges 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree
What Is the Case About? A grand jury voted to indict Trump, making him the first former U.S. president to be criminally charged and marking the beginning of a series of indictments against the former president.
The indictment accused Trump of falsifying business records in connection to a payment made during the final weeks of the 2016 presidential campaign to adult film star Stormy Daniels, who had threatened to reveal what she said was a 2006 sexual encounter with Trump. The case alleged that Daniels was paid $130,000 by Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen in October 2016 in exchange for her silence. According to prosecutors, Trump then reimbursed Cohen in installment payments through his company, the Trump Organization, under a false retainer agreement after he won the presidency. In addition to the “hush money” payments made to Daniels, Trump was also charged in connection with payments made to Playboy model Karen McDougal and a doorman to prevent scandals from circulating during the 2016 campaign period.
The Manhattan district office charged the former president with a low-level felony, falsifying business records, which carries a maximum of four years in prison for each count. In New York, falsifying business records counts as a felony, rather than a misdemeanor, only if the defendant had an intent of committing or concealing a separate underlying crime. The indictment alleged that Trump falsified business records to “conceal criminal activity, including attempts to violate state and federal election laws,” but did not specify a particular underlying crime. In interviews, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg described the case as an “election interference case” that is about “conspiring to corrupt a presidential election” by concealing damaging information ahead of the vote.
Trump’s Defense Trump, who has denied having an affair with Daniels and said that the payment to her was not campaign related, pleaded not guilty. He accused Bragg of being a “racist” and conducting a “witch hunt” against him. Trump’s legal team sought to have the judge on the case removed, alleging a conflict of interest; the judge declined to recuse himself, saying “this Court … is certain in its ability to be fair and impartial.” In November 2023, Trump’s legal team dropped an appeal to move the case from a state court that Trump says is “very unfair” to him to federal court.
The Verdict On May 30, 2024, the jury found Trump guilty on 34 felony counts. Trump denounced the trial as a “disgrace” after the verdict and said he’s a “very innocent man.” Following the Supreme Court’s July 2024 ruling on presidential immunity, Trump’s lawyers asked the judge for a delay in sentencing, which was granted, and urged the judge to vacate the jury’s verdict and dismiss the case.
On Sept. 3, 2024, a federal judge denied an effort by Trump’s lawyers to move the state case to federal court. Trump’s team, which sought to overturn the conviction based on the Supreme Court’s July ruling on presidential immunity, appealed the judge’s decision.
In a filing released on Dec. 3, 2024, Trump’s lawyers requested the conviction be thrown out, arguing that the president-elect should be protected from legal issues that might disrupt his presidency.
In mid-December 2024, the New York judge denied another attempt by Trump’s lawyers to get the conviction thrown out — this one based on the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling.
On Jan. 10, 2025, the judge sentenced Trump to an unconditional discharge, which means that Trump won’t face any prison time, probation or fines. Trump has vowed to appeal the conviction and in a social post after the sentencing called the case a “witch hunt” and “hoax.”
The Federal Classified Documents Case
Date Indicted June 8, 2023, and July 27, 2023, when special counsel Jack Smith’s team charged Trump with three more counts
Scheduled Trial Date The trial was initially scheduled to begin on May 20, 2024. The case was dismissed in July 2024.
Court U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida
Judge Overseeing U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon
Person Leading the Investigation Special counsel Jack Smith
Charges 32 counts of willful retention of national defense information, 1 count of conspiracy to obstruct justice, 3 counts of withholding or concealing a document, 2 counts of false statements, and 2 counts of altering, destroying, mutilating or concealing an object or record
What Is the Case About? Trump was indicted by a federal grand jury, making him the first former president to face federal charges. The indictment accused Trump of taking highly sensitive national security documents when he left the White House in January 2021 and resisting the government’s repeated attempts to retrieve them.
According to the indictment, the National Archives and Records Administration repeatedly demanded that the former president return all missing presidential records, which prosecutors alleged Trump refused to do. In August 2022, FBI agents recovered more than 100 classified documents from Trump’s Florida estate at Mar-a-Lago. In addition to showing the classified documents to people who didn’t have security clearance, Trump — federal prosecutors alleged — stashed the papers in improper locations throughout his Mar-a-Lago resort, including in a “ballroom, a bathroom and shower, and office space, his bedroom, and a storage room.” The documents, prosecutors said, included sensitive information on the country’s nuclear programs, potential vulnerabilities to a military attack, and plans for possible retaliation in case of foreign attacks. Trump’s aide Walt Nauta and his property manager Carlos De Oliveira were named as co-conspirators and charged in the case.
The indictment alleged that the disclosure of these documents could have put the country’s safety and national security at risk. Each count of making false statements can lead to five years in prison, while each count of willful retention of national defense information is punishable by up to 10 years. Each count of conspiracy to obstruct justice, withholding documents, and altering, destroying, mutilating or concealing records could result in 20 years in prison.
Trump’s Defense Trump, as well as his associates Nauta and De Oliveira, pleaded not guilty. In a motion filed in January 2024, Trump’s lawyers said that they intended to prove the records were stored in secure locations at the Mar-a-Lago estate and that the case was “politically motivated and biased” and intended to harm Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign. In March 2024, a federal judge rejected a motion by Trump to throw out the case.
Case Dismissed Judge Cannon dismissed the classified documents case, ruling that Smith’s appointment as special counsel violated the Constitution, according to a court filing on July 15, 2024. In late August, Smith appealed Judge Cannon’s decision saying that the judge made a mistake in dismissing the case because his appointment was valid and pointing to past precedent with other special counsels.
In the wake of the 2024 election, Smith filed a motion to remove Trump as a co-defendant from his appeal, pointing to DOJ policy that prohibits the prosecution of a sitting president. Smith requested the case against Trump be dismissed “without prejudice,” which would make it possible to refile the charges after Trump left office. The other two defendants remained in the appeal. In early January 2025, Smith resigned ahead of Trump’s inauguration. Trump had previously threatened to fire him.
The Federal Election Interference Case
Date Indicted Aug. 1, 2023 (original indictment); Aug. 27, 2024 (revised indictment)
Scheduled Trial Date The trial was initially scheduled for March 4, 2024, but was postponed while Trump appealed a decision about his immunity claims. The Supreme Court’s July 2024 ruling that the former president had immunity from prosecution for some actions taken while in office delayed the trial further. While the majority’s opinion stated that Trump was “absolutely immune” from prosecution for his conversations with officials at the Justice Department, the district court judge in charge of the case had to evaluate which of Trump’s other alleged actions in a revised indictment were official and which were not, and thus might still be subject to prosecution. The three liberal justices dissented, with Justice Sonia Sotomayor writing, “The relationship between the President and the people he serves has shifted irrevocably. In every use of official power, the President is now a king above the law.”
Court U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
Judge Overseeing U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan
Person Leading the Investigation Special counsel Jack Smith
Charges 2 counts related to obstructing an official proceeding and conspiring to obstruct an official proceeding, 1 count of conspiracy to defraud the United States government, and 1 count of conspiracy to violate rights
What Is the Case About? More than two-and-a-half years after violence erupted at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, special counsel Jack Smith indicted Trump for his alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election and disrupt the certification of the electoral vote so he could remain in power. Prosecutors argued that Trump’s actions were an attack on American democracy’s centuries-old tradition of the peaceful transfer of power.
Among the charges Trump faced, the count of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government refers to the alleged undermining of the government’s counting of the votes, the count of obstructing an “official proceeding” refers to the disruption of the Jan. 6 election certification at the Capitol, and the count of conspiracy to violate rights refers to the allegation that Trump denied voters the right to have their votes counted.
The indictment alleged that, in the two months between the November 2020 election and Jan. 6, Trump spread claims of electoral fraud that he knew were false, having been told by multiple officials, both from the Justice Department and his campaign team, that he in fact lost the election. The original indictment accused him of pressuring the Justice Department to support those false claims. It also alleged that he took part in a scheme involving false slates of electors and pressured Republican state officials, as well as then-Vice President Mike Pence, to overturn the electoral results. Although federal prosecutors didn’t charge Trump with directly inciting the pro-Trump mob attack at the capitol, they said that Trump exploited the violence to try to subvert Joe Biden’s victory. Six co-conspirators were referenced in the original indictment, but Trump was the only person who was charged.
Special counsel Smith issued a reworked indictment in late August to “respect and implement” the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity ruling. Smith kept the original charges but removed allegations that Trump pressured Justice Department officials to support his claims of election fraud. The revised indictment introduced Trump as “a candidate for president of the United States in 2020” rather than the 45th president as it had originally, and described five alleged co-conspirators as individuals acting in a private capacity.
Trump’s Defense Trump pleaded not guilty in response to the original and revised indictments. Trump has said it was his decision to believe the election was “rigged,” and that he did not respect the lawyers on his team who told him he had lost the election. The trial court judge in Washington, D.C., threw out a motion by Trump’s lawyers to dismiss the case on the grounds that presidents should have absolute immunity from prosecution for actions taken while in office. On Feb. 6, 2024, a federal appeals court rejected Trump’s immunity claim and said he could be prosecuted. The former president is expected to continue to appeal up to the U.S. Supreme Court.
In October 2023, the judge overseeing the case imposed a partial gag order on Trump banning him from making public statements attacking witnesses and officials involved in the case, citing concerns that his comments could spur violence from his supporters. Trump argued that the order violated his First Amendment rights. An appeals court panel in December upheld the order but revised it to allow statements critical of Smith, as well as witnesses in some contexts. In January 2024, the full federal appeals court rejected Trump’s bid to lift the order, leaving appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court his last remaining option.
Case Dismissed On Nov. 25, 2024, with Trump set to re-enter the White House, Smith moved to dismiss the case, heeding DOJ policy that the Constitution protects sitting presidents from prosecution. Smith said the request wasn’t based on the merits or the strength of the case, but because of legal norms.
Judge Chutkan approved Smith’s request to dismiss the case without prejudice, which would allow the charges to be refiled after Trump’s presidency. A spokesperson for Trump called the development “a major victory for the rule of law.”
Before resigning as special counsel ahead of Trump’s inauguration, Smith made a portion of his investigation public. In the report, Smith and his team concluded that the evidence would have been enough “to obtain and sustain a conviction.”
The Georgia Election Interference Case
Date Indicted August 14, 2023
Scheduled Trial Date The case was halted by the Georgia Court of Appeals on June 5 while it considered a ruling that allowed Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to stay on the case.
Court Fulton County Superior Court
Judge Overseeing Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee
Person Leading the Investigation Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis
Charges 1 count related to violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, 6 counts related to false statements and documents, 2 counts of conspiracy to commit forgery in the first degree, 4 counts related to soliciting or impersonating public officers
Charges Dismissed On March 13, 2024, a judge threw out three counts against Trump, all related to soliciting public officers to violate their oath. On Sept. 12, 2024, the judge dismissed two more charges against Trump, which alleged conspiracy to commit forgery and filing of false documents.
What Is the Case About? The indictment listed 41 charges — 13 of which were against Trump — and 18 other defendants, alleging that they attempted to unlawfully overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia and subvert the voters’ will. The indictment charged Trump and his associates with a violation of the state’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, a law that allows prosecutors to link different crimes by various people if those crimes were carried out for one corrupt enterprise. The Georgia indictment also accused Trump of being at the top of the alleged racketeering activity.
The indictment alleged that Trump and his associates spread false claims about voter fraud, plotted to create fake pro-Trump electors, and urged Georgia officials to overturn Joe Biden’s win. One of the key incidents referenced in the indictment is a recorded phone call with Brad Raffensperger, Georgia’s secretary of state, in which Trump can be heard asking the official to “find 11,780 votes,” the number he needed to defeat Biden in the state of Georgia.
In March 2024, a judge threw out six of the original 41 charges against Trump and the other defendants, bringing the charges Trump faced down to 10. After two more charges against Trump were dismissed, he still faces eight of the original 13.
Trump’s Defense Trump pleaded not guilty. He described the phone call with Raffensperger as “perfect.” Similar to the federal election interference case, Trump sought presidential immunity and asked the Georgia court to dismiss the charges in a motion filed in January 2024. In the same month, Michael Roman, one of Trump’s co-defendants, filed a motion accusing Willis of having a romantic relationship with Nathan Wade, the case’s lead prosecutor. In a court filing on Feb. 2, Willis acknowledged a “personal relationship” with Wade, but argued that there were no grounds to remove her from the case. In response to claims of a conflict of interest, Wade said none of the money he made on the job was shared with Willis. Trump responded to Willis’ acknowledgement of the relationship, posting on the platform Truth Social that the case was a “hoax” so Willis and Wade could interfere in the 2024 election. Trump’s lead attorney in the case, Steve Sadow, said that although Willis admitted to the relationship, she failed to provide “full transparency and necessary financial details.”
In mid-March, Wade resigned as special prosecutor to “move this case forward as quickly as possible” after Judge Scott McAfee said that Willis and her office could only keep the case if he stepped down. Trump and the co-defendants appealed McAfee’s decision, which left the case in the hands of the Georgia Court of Appeals.
In early December, Trump’s lawyers requested the Georgia Court of Appeals consider the charges against him unconstitutional and order the trial judge to dismiss the case. In the filing, Trump’s attorney wrote that a sitting president is “completely immune from indictment or any criminal process, state or federal.”
On Dec. 19, 2024, the appellate court sided with Trump and his co-defendants and disqualified Willis from the case. In early January, Willis asked the Georgia Supreme Court to review the ruling.
Four of the 18 other defendants have already pleaded guilty. If Trump were found guilty in this case, he would not be able to pardon himself as president since he would be convicted of violating a Georgia state law, not a federal law.
Priyanka Boghani and Patrice Taddonio contributed updates to this story.
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