Top line
Former President Donald Trump is battling a variety of criminal and civil cases in several states, giving him a busy court calendar in the coming months. While he awaits a verdict in one case, trials in several others are not expected to begin until after the election. The case, set to be heard at the federal level on January 6, will be delayed again on Friday.
Former President Donald Trump sits in the courtroom during his hush money trial in Manhattan … (+)
Timeline
While Trump awaits the verdict in the hush money case – the only criminal case against Trump that has gone to trial so far – New York Judge Juan Merchan will rule on Trump’s motion for recusal.
After Trump’s criminal case was dismissed in federal court over alleged withholding of White House documents, special counsel Jack Smith will ask an appeals court to retry the case and file a brief explaining why the appeals court should overturn the dismissal of U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon.
Lawyers for Smith and Trump will submit proposals to federal judge Tanya Chutkan on how they think Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election should proceed from here. Chutkan extended that deadline on Friday because of a Supreme Court ruling granting Trump some immunity for “official” acts on whose outcome the trial depends.
Chutkan will make the final decision on how to proceed with the federal election process and will hold a status conference with prosecutors and Trump’s lawyers.
Trump’s lawyers will seek to overturn a civil court ruling that found Trump guilty of defaming and sexually assaulting writer E. Jean Carroll. An appeals court is simultaneously hearing arguments in Trump’s appeal of the verdict in Carroll’s first case, in which the former president was ordered to pay $5 million.
Merchan will decide whether to grant Trump’s request to overturn the conviction in the hush money case. The former president argues that the Supreme Court’s decision to grant Trump immunity for “official acts” while in office undermines some of the evidence used by prosecutors at trial.
Trump’s lawyers will face several Capitol Police officers in a federal court hearing seeking to hold him liable for the Jan. 6 riot. The case is now moving toward a trial after Judge Amit Mehta ruled that Trump does not have civil immunity.
Trump will be convicted of the 34 charges he was found guilty of in the New York hush money trial – provided Merchan does not overturn the verdict against the former president a few days earlier.
Trump’s appeal of the $450 million civil fraud judgment against him and his business associates is headed to trial; a New York state appeals court said in June that the appeal was scheduled for the end of the September session.
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What you should pay attention to
If Trump wins in November, the next few months will likely mark the end of at least some of his criminal cases. Trump will likely drop the federal charges against him in the election and documents case when the appeals court reopens the case. He could do this by appointing Justice Department officials willing to drop the charges. He would have no power over the federal prosecutions against him, although they could be stayed until Trump leaves office.
What we don’t know
What else will unfold between now and November? How Trump’s federal election case will continue to unfold won’t be clear until the Sept. 6 hearing, but Chutkan will likely add more deadlines and hearings at that time to move the case forward after it was previously on hold for months. But the judge will have to determine how the Supreme Court’s decision to grant Trump immunity affects the charges against him before the case can go to trial — which is expected to be a lengthy process that ensures the trial doesn’t begin before Election Day. It also remains to be seen how the appeals court might plan for developments in Trump’s documents case after the first briefs are filed.
tangent
Trump’s criminal case in Georgia for attempting to overturn the 2020 election is unlikely to see any further developments between now and November, as the case is on hold while an appeals court decides whether Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis should be disqualified because of her romantic relationship with former prosecutor Nathan Wade. The appeals court will not hold a hearing in that dispute until December, after the election, ensuring that the case will be on hold until then and a trial would not take place until next year at the earliest.
How does the election fit into Trump’s legal calendar?
Although Election Day is not until Nov. 5, Trump’s busy September schedule is just before the start of the election season. Ten states are sending out ballots more than 45 days before Election Day, which this year is Sept. 21, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. That means some voters could see Trump’s ruling as early as Sept. 18 — and then fill out their ballot just days later.
Important background
Trump has faced a series of legal battles in the years since his presidency, including four criminal cases and numerous civil suits. The ex-president has largely denied the cases brought against him, pleading not guilty in his criminal trials and generally dismissing the allegations as a “witch hunt” designed to harm his political campaign. While the criminal charges against Trump were all filed last year, only the ex-president’s hush money case in Manhattan has so far gone to trial, as Trump and his lawyers have managed to delay criminal proceedings in other cases. Trump’s federal election trial got back on track last week after the Supreme Court ruled in July that Trump and ex-presidents cannot be criminally charged for “official acts” while in office, contradicting district and appeals court judges who said Trump is not entitled to immunity. This ruling further upended the case against Trump, delaying his conviction in the hush money case in addition to impacting the electoral process.
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