Donald Trump said on Monday that the FBI searched his Palm Beach, Florida, estate, Mar-a-Lago. Even though the search seems to be part of an investigation into Trump’s illegal removal and destruction of White House records after he left office, the businessman and politician are being investigated and sued on several fronts. Here is a summary.
Missing National Records
In February, the US National Archives and Records Administration (Nara) told Congress that it had found about 15 boxes of White House documents at Trump’s home in Florida. Some of the documents were classified.
At the time, the oversight committee of the US House of Representatives said it was looking into Trump’s actions more deeply and asked the Archives for more information. Trump has already said that he agreed to return some records to the National Archives and called it “a normal and routine process.”
The Us Capitol Was Attacked
A committee in Congress is looking into the attack on the US Capitol on January 6 by Trump supporters. They are trying to prove that he broke the law when he tried to overturn his loss in the 2020 election.
Vice-chair Liz Cheney has said that the committee could send multiple requests for criminal charges against Trump to the Justice Department. Trump has said that the committee is conducting a fake investigation.
In a court filing from March, the committee explained Trump’s attempts to get Mike Pence to either reject Joe Biden’s winning slate of electors or delay a congressional count of those votes.
The committee can’t bring federal charges against Trump. The Justice Department, led by Attorney General Merrick Garland, must make that choice. Experts say that if the justice department brings leaders, the main challenge for prosecutors will be to show that Trump did things with a corrupt intent.
Trump could also be charged with “seditious conspiracy.” This rarely used law says it is illegal to use force to overthrow the US government. Several people involved in the attack have already been charged with this crime.
Wire Fraud
At a hearing of the January 6 committee in June, Democrats said that Trump, a Republican, got $250 million from his supporters to make false claims in court that he won the election. Still, he spent most of the money on other things.
Legal experts say this makes it more likely that he could be charged with wire fraud, which is the crime of getting money through “false or fraudulent pretenses.”
Changes To The Georgia Election
In May, a special grand jury was chosen to examine the evidence for a Georgia prosecutor’s investigation into Trump’s alleged attempts to change the state’s 2020 election results.
The investigation looks into a call Trump made on January 2, 2021, to Brad Raffensperger, the Republican secretary of state for Georgia. A Washington Post recording shows that Trump asked Raffensperger to “find” the votes needed to overturn Trump’s loss in the election.
Legal experts said that Trump may have broken at least three criminal election laws in Georgia: conspiracy to commit election fraud, an unlawful solicitation to commit election fraud, and intentional interference with the performance of election duties. Trump could say he was exercising his right to free speech and wasn’t trying to change the election.
New York’s Investigation Of Crime
The Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, has been looking into whether Trump’s family real estate company lied about the value of its properties to get better loans from banks and lower tax bills.
Two top lawyers leading the investigation quit in February, which made it unclear what would happen next, but Bragg’s office said the study is still going on.
A Civil Inquiry By The New York Attorney General
Letitia James, the attorney general for the state of New York, is looking into whether or not the Trump Organization inflated real estate prices. Trump and two of his adult children, Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump, have agreed to talk to investigators starting on July 15.
Trump has said that both cases in New York are about politics and that he did nothing wrong.
Case Against E. Jean Carroll For Slander
In 2019, E. Jean Carroll, a former writer for Elle magazine, sued Trump for defamation after he denied that he had raped her in a New York City department store in the 1990s. He said she was lying to get people to buy a book.
The second circuit court of appeals in Manhattan is about to decide if Carroll’s lawsuit should be thrown out or not.
A lawyer for Trump has said that he is protected by a federal law that says people who work for the government can’t be sued for slander.
If Trump Runs For President, Does That Mean He Can’t Be Charged?
No. Even though the justice department has had a policy for decades that a sitting president can’t be indicted, presidential candidates don’t have the same protection.
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