Donald Trump’s legal woes continue to mount, as federal prosecutors this week announced a third criminal indictment against the former United States president so far this year.
Trump was indicted on Tuesday on federal charges related to his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election that he lost to President Joe Biden – and which he continues to falsely claim was the result of widespread fraud.
The indictment is the third Trump has faced since March when officials in the US state of New York indicted him for falsifying business documents in connection to hush-money payments made to an adult-film star.
In June, Trump became the first current or former US president to face federal charges when prosecutors unveiled an indictment against him over allegations he mishandled secret government documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
Meanwhile, Trump faces a looming fourth indictment in the US state of Georgia, where authorities are probing whether his efforts to pressure an election official to alter the 2020 vote results in the state constitute a crime.
The cases have come as Trump continued to hold a sizeable lead in a crowded Republican 2024 presidential race. Under the US Constitution, Trump can still run, and assume office if he wins, even if convicted.
He has characterised the indictments against him as part of a political “witch hunt”, and has denied any wrongdoing.
Here’s where things stand in the criminal cases:
2020 election interference – Federal case
Trump faces four federal felony charges in connection to his high-profile efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.
The sweeping indictment unsealed on August 1 recaps a months-long misinformation campaign by Trump, in which the former president pushed fraud claims that prosecutors say he knew to be untrue.
Trump also pressured state and federal officials to intervene in the election certification process, including his Vice President Mike Pence, authorities said.
The pressure campaign, which continued even as pro-Trump rioters stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, amounted to an attempt to obstruct “a bedrock function”, according to the indictment.
Trump is charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud the US; one count of conspiracy against rights; one count of conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, and one count of obstructing an official proceeding.
The former president is set to appear in a Washington, DC court at 4pm local time (20:00 GMT) on Thursday to face the charges, US media outlets have reported.
Trump will be fingerprinted, taken in before the presiding judge, and asked to enter a plea on the four charges against him, Al Jazeera’s Mike Hanna reported on Wednesday.
“In the previous indictments, he has pleaded not guilty, which is likely to be the same in this occasion,” Hanna said.
Classified documents – Federal case
In June, Trump was indicted in a separate federal case related to his handling of sensitive documents that he took from the White House at the end of his presidency.
The former president was initially charged with 37 felony counts, the majority of which were for unauthorised retention of national security secrets. He was also charged with obstruction of justice and making false statements to investigators.
The indictment detailed how Trump showed off the classified documents to visitors, storing many in easily accessible areas of his Mar-a-Lago estate. As federal investigators closed in, the charging document said, Trump enlisted aides to help hide the documents.
“Our laws that protect national defence information are critical to the safety and security of the United States, and they must be enforced,” special counsel Jack Smith, who also oversees the federal election case, said upon unsealing the secret documents indictment.
“Violations of those laws put our country at risk,” Smith said.
On July 27, federal prosecutors announced three more charges against Trump. His aide and a property manager at Mar-a-Lago have also been charged in the case.
Trump pleaded not guilty to the initial charges during his first appearance at a court in Miami, Florida, in June. A federal judge has set a trial date for May 20, 2024.
Falsifying business documents – New York state case
Trump’s first criminal indictment came in the US state of New York in March, when he was charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in an investigation led by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
The counts are linked to a series of checks written to Trump’s lawyer Michael Cohen as reimbursements for hush-money payments made to pornographic movie star Stormy Daniels, who alleged a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006.
The payments were recorded in various internal company documents as being for a legal retainer that prosecutors said did not exist.
On December 4, the former president is set to make his next appearance at a Manhattan court where he had earlier entered a not-guilty plea to the charges.
The date comes two months before the Republican presidential primary season begins in full.
2020 election interference – Expected Georgia state case
A fourth criminal indictment also hangs over the former president in the US state of Georgia.
For more than two years, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has been investigating whether Trump and his allies illegally meddled in the 2020 election in the state.
The probe initially focused on a January 2, 2021 phone call between Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a top election official. In the call, Trump, who was trailing in the state’s final vote count, suggested Raffensperger could “find 11,780 votes”.
The investigation has since broadened, with a grand jury hearing testimony from high-profile Trump allies and top Georgia officials.
A final decision on whether or not Trump will be charged is widely expected in August.
