In a historic first, Donald Trump appeared in a New York court on Tuesday after being charged in a case of falsification of accounting documents, linked to the purchase of the silence of an X film actress in 2016.
But the ex-president is at the center of several other investigations, some of which could turn out to be much more serious. Here is an update on the disputes with the justice of the one who seeks a second term in 2024.
A parliamentary committee, dissolved by the new Republican majority, investigated the Republican’s role in the attack by his supporters on the seat of Congress on January 6, 2021, when elected officials certified the victory of his rival Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential.
In high-profile hearings, the Democratic-majority panel said the former president fired up his supporters before the coup and “failed in his duty as commander-in-chief” during the assault.
In its final report, the commission said Donald Trump should never be able to hold new public office after inciting his supporters to insurrection.
Its members also recommended that criminal proceedings be launched against him by the federal courts, in particular for calling for insurrection.
This is the file likely to lead to the most serious charges.
A special prosecutor, Jack Smith, is also looking into the role of the former president in the attempts to overturn the results of the presidential election of 2020. At the end of his investigation, he could recommend whether or not to indict him.
But the last word will go to Justice Minister Merrick Garland.
A Georgia state prosecutor has been investigating since 2021 “attempts to influence the electoral operations” of this southern state, won by a short head by Joe Biden in 2020.
In a phone call, the recording of which has been made public, Donald Trump had asked a senior local official, Brad Raffensperger, to “find” nearly 12,000 ballots in his name.
Fani Willis, district attorney for Fulton County, which includes Atlanta, appointed a grand jury to determine if there was enough evidence to indict the real estate magnate. She managed to collect testimonies from her relatives, in particular from her ex-personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani.
This grand jury recommended indictments against several people without revealing whether the former president was among them.
Leaving the White House, Donald Trump took with him entire boxes of documents. However, a 1978 law obliges all American presidents to transmit all of their e-mails, letters and other working documents to the National Archives.
In January 2022, he returned 15 cards. After examination, the federal police estimated that he probably kept others in his luxurious Mar-a-Lago residence.
FBI agents then conducted a spectacular search there on August 8 on the basis of a warrant for “withholding classified documents” and “obstructing a federal investigation”, and seized about thirty other boxes.
An intense legal battle then opened to determine the nature of the documents seized (classified? personal? declassified?), which slowed down the procedure but, again, a federal indictment remains possible.
Special Prosecutor Jack Smith is also investigating the case.
In January, the Trump Organization was fined in New York up to $1.6 million for financial and tax fraud, a criminal first for the group, which awaits an even larger civil trial in the fall. .
At the head of the justice of the State of New York, Letitia James, an elected Democrat, has indeed filed a complaint against Donald Trump, his children and the Trump Organization.
She accuses them of “deliberately” manipulating the valuations of the group’s assets — which includes golf clubs, luxury hotels and other properties — to obtain better loans from banks or reduce its taxes.
She is claiming $250 million in damages on behalf of the state, as well as bans from running companies for the ex-president and his relatives.
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04/04/2023 23:49:47 – Washington (AFP) – © 2023 AFP