Donald Trump's legal woes: Hush-money trial nears end, election cases loom

Former President Donald Trump sits in court for the hush money trial against him at the Manhattan Criminal Court on Monday. Pool Photo by Steven Hirsch/UPI
1 of 2 | Former President Donald Trump sits in court for the hush money trial against him at the Manhattan Criminal Court on Monday. Pool Photo by Steven Hirsch/UPI | License Photo

May 28 (UPI) -- Former President Donald Trump's first criminal trial is in its final days but more days in court may lie ahead as he campaigns for president.

The trial in Manhattan over Trump's alleged hush-money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels will move to final arguments on Tuesday. The 12-person jury will then mull over its decision on the 34 charges against the Republican nominee.

Trump has denied the affair and pleaded not guilty to all charges. He has pleaded not guilty to all of the more than 90 charges he faces.

Trump's campaign has already received some favorable news on other fronts. The Supreme Court ruled in March that states cannot disqualify him from appearing on their ballots.

Here is a look at the trials Trump still faces after the ruling in Manhattan is made.

Classified documents

The next trial in line was scheduled to be the trial over Trump's alleged mishandling of classified documents in Florida. That trial was most previously scheduled to begin on May 20, but Trump remained in a Manhattan courtroom.

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon held a hearing on Wednesday -- the first in more than a month -- to hear arguments on Trump's bid to throw out the case.

During the last hearing, Cannon -- a Trump appointed judge -- heard arguments from the defense and the government over the trial schedule. She has delayed the trial without setting a new start date.

The prosecution proposed starting the trial on July 8, then proposed an alternate date of Aug. 5. Trump has pushed for all of the trials against him to be delayed until after the election.

Trump faces 40 charges related to holding and failing to surrender more than 100 classified documents, including national security secrets.

Capitol riot, election interference

The trial in Washington, D.C., over Trump's role in inciting the Jan. 6 riot at the Capital and attempting to overturn the results of the election has been put on hold with no trial date set.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan put the trial on hold in February while the Supreme Court considers Trump's presidential immunity argument. The trial was scheduled to begin in early March.

The Supreme Court heard arguments over Trump's immunity claim in April. Trump's defense argued that he has broad immunity that protects him from prosecution for acts committed while he was president. The prosecution argues that this immunity is limited to acts related to his duties as president and immunity expires when he leaves office.

It is unclear when the high court will make its ruling on presidential immunity. Conor Gaffney, legal counsel with nonprofit organization Protect Democracy, told UPI that a decision may not come down until June.

Trump is charged with four counts in this case: conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding -- the certification of the election, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding and conspiracy against rights -- the rights of voters.

Election subversion in Fulton County, Ga.

Trump is one of 19 defendants who have been charged in a conspiracy to subvert the results of the 2020 election in Georgia. Four of the other defendants have pleaded guilty and the court has weighed how it will proceed with a trial of the rest.

Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee has indicated that he is hesitant to try more than a dozen defendants at once. He suggested that the defendants be split into at least two groups with both prepared to go to trial.

A trial date has not been set. The prosecution proposed starting the trial last fall but due to the numerous defendants and pretrial motions it has remained on hold.

Trump joined co-defendant Michael Roman's motion to remove Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from the case, effectively ending the prosecution. Lead prosecutor Nathan Wade resigned from the case after a hearing on the motion. McAfee ruled that Willis may stay on the case if Wade resigned.

The Georgia Court of Appeals announced earlier this month that it will hear Trump-attorney Steve Sadow's appeal to disqualify Willis. This is after McAfee said in his decision that the defense failed to prove that Willis benefited financially from her relationship with Wade.

A date has not been scheduled for the hearing on the appeal.

Trump was arrested last August in Fulton County, facing 13 counts related to an alleged campaign to overturn the results of the election. In total, the 19 defendants faced 41 charges. The indictment also noted 30 unindicted co-conspirators.

Trump and others, including his former attorney Rudy Giuliani, are accused of undertaking multiple schemes to subvert Georgia's elections. This included a "fake elector" scheme and Trump calling Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, asking him to "find" 11,780 votes.

Donald Trump's historic indictment

Former President Donald Trump speakes to the media and supporters after returning to Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., on April 4, 2023. Photo by Gary I Rothstein/UPI | License Photo

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