Donald Trump legal issues: What charges, lawsuits and investigations does he face?

Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, is facing a number of cases

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Here is a list of legal troubles facing former US President Donald Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. Trump, 77, denies any wrongdoing.

ILLEGAL RETENTION OF CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS

Trump pleaded not guilty in federal court on June 13 in Miami to charges he unlawfully kept classified national security documents when he left office in 2021 and lied to officials who sought to recover them.

US Special Counsel Jack Smith has asked a federal judge to delay until Dec. 11 the start of a trial set for Aug. 14 to allow both sides more time to prepare.

Walt Nauta, a Trump aide accused of helping the former president hide the documents from investigators, failed to enter a plea in Miami for a second time on Tuesday. His lawyer said he still does not have local counsel in Miami.

Magistrate Judge Edwin Torres postponed the arraignment to July 6.

GEORGIA ELECTION-TAMPERING CRIMINAL PROBE

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, a Democrat, is investigating whether Trump and others tried illegally to overturn his defeat in that state's 2020 presidential vote. A charging decision in the criminal case is expected by Sept. 1.

The investigation focuses in part on a Jan. 2, 2021, phone call Trump made to Republican Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, asking him to "find" enough votes needed to overturn Trump's loss in Georgia.

Legal experts said Trump may have violated at least three Georgia criminal laws: conspiracy to commit election fraud, criminal solicitation to commit election fraud and intentional interference with performance of election duties.

Trump could argue that his discussions were free speech protected by the US Constitution.

2020 ELECTION AND THE US CAPITOL ATTACK

Special Counsel Smith is also investigating Trump's actions following his loss in the 2020 presidential election, culminating in Trump supporters' deadly attack on the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Trump had sought to prevent top aides, including then-Vice President Mike Pence, from testifying in that probe which is being weighed by a Washington, D.C., grand jury. Pence appeared before the grand jury in April.

Trump repeatedly assailed Pence before the attack for refusing to try to prevent Congress from certifying Democrat Joe Biden's win in the 2020 election.

The federal probe is also examining a plot to submit phony slates of electors to block U.S. lawmakers from certifying Biden's win.

Raffensperger, Georgia's leading election official, was scheduled to answer questions on Wednesday from federal investigators in the case. He will likely be asked about the phone call he received from Trump in January 2021.

NEW YORK 'HUSH MONEY' CRIMINAL CASE

A New York grand jury indicted Trump for allegedly falsifying business records in connection with a hush-money payment to a porn star before the 2016 presidential election.

Trump's former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, paid Stormy Daniels $130,000 for her silence about a sexual encounter she said she had with Trump in 2006. Prosecutors in Manhattan accuse Trump of trying to conceal a violation of election laws.

Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records. He has denied having a sexual encounter with Daniels but admitted to reimbursing Cohen for his payment to her.

Cohen pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations and other crimes and was sentenced to three years in prison in 2018 during Trump's presidency.

The trial is scheduled for March 25, 2024. A federal judge on Tuesday said he would likely decline Trump's request to move the case from state court to federal court.

SEXUAL ABUSE AND DEFAMATION CIVIL LAWSUITS

Trump is appealing a $5 million verdict by a Manhattan federal jury that found him liable for sexually abusing writer E. Jean Carroll in the mid-1990s and then defaming her by lying about it in 2022.

Carroll is seeking at least $10 million more in a separate defamation lawsuit she amended after Trump blasted the verdict on CNN and on his social media platform. He has denied meeting Carroll and accused her of making up her allegations.

A trial is scheduled for Jan. 15, 2024.

NEW YORK ATTORNEY GENERAL CIVIL LAWSUIT

New York Attorney General Letitia James sued Trump and his family business, the Trump Organization, last September for alleged fraud by him and his family.

James, a Democrat, accuses Trump of lying from 2011 to 2021 about asset values, including for his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and Trump Tower penthouse in Manhattan, as well as his own net worth, to obtain better terms from lenders and insurers.

The lawsuit seeks at least $250 million in damages from Trump, his adult sons Donald Jr and Eric, the Trump Organisation and others, and to stop the Trumps from running businesses in New York. A trial is scheduled for Oct. 2.

A New York appeals court on Tuesday rejected Trump's bid to dismiss the lawsuit, but dismissed all claims against his daughter Ivanka and said the remaining case may be limited further.

TRUTH SOCIAL DEAL

The Justice Department and financial regulators are investigating special purpose acquisition company Digital World Acquisition Corp's October 2021 deal with Trump's social media firm Truth Social.

The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority have been investigating whether any securities regulations were broken, according to Digital World's financial disclosure documents.

Federal prosecutors have subpoenaed the company and every director on its board, Digital World said in June 2022.