Other investigations around Donald Trump

Donald Trump became the first president in history to be indicted on Thursday, in the case of buying the silence of a porn actress in 2016.

• Read also: Donald Trump formally charged by a grand jury in New York

• Read also: Trump indictment ‘contrary to America’s values’, DeSantis says

Here is a point on the other disputes with the justice of the one who seeks a second term in 2024.

The Capitol Assault

A parliamentary committee, dissolved by the new Republican majority, investigated the Republican’s role in the attack by his supporters on the seat of Congress on January 6, 2021, when elected officials certified the victory of his rival Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential.

In high-profile hearings, the Democratic-majority panel said the former president fired up his supporters before the coup and “failed in his duty as commander-in-chief” during the assault.

In its final report, the commission said Donald Trump should never be able to hold new public office after inciting his supporters to insurrection.

Its members also recommended that criminal proceedings be launched against him by the federal courts, in particular for calling for insurrection.

This is the file likely to lead to the most serious charges.

A special prosecutor, Jack Smith, is also looking into the role of the former president in the attempts to overturn the results of the presidential election of 2020. At the end of his investigation, he could recommend whether or not to indict him.

But the last word will go to Justice Minister Merrick Garland.

The 2020 election in Georgia

A Georgia state prosecutor has been investigating since 2021 “attempts to influence the electoral operations” of this southern state, won by a short head by Joe Biden in 2020.

In a phone call, the recording of which has been made public, Donald Trump had asked a senior local official, Brad Raffensperger, to “find” nearly 12,000 ballots in his name.

Fani Willis, district attorney for Fulton County, which includes Atlanta, appointed a grand jury to determine if there was enough evidence to indict the real estate magnate. She managed to collect testimonies from her relatives, in particular from her ex-personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani.

This grand jury recommended indictments against several people without revealing whether the former president was among them.

The White House Archives

Leaving the White House, Donald Trump took entire boxes of documents. However, a 1978 law obliges all American presidents to transmit all of their e-mails, letters and other working documents to the National Archives.

In January 2022, he returned 15 cards. After examination, the federal police estimated that he probably kept others in his luxurious Mar-a-Lago residence.

FBI agents then carried out a spectacular search there on August 8 on the basis of a warrant for “retention of classified documents” and “obstructing a federal investigation”, and seized around thirty other boxes.

An intense legal battle then opened to determine the nature of the documents seized (classified? personal? declassified?) which slowed down the procedure but, here again, a federal indictment remains possible.

Special Prosecutor Jack Smith is also investigating the case.

His financial affairs in New York

In January, the Trump Organization was fined in New York up to $1.6 million for financial and tax fraud, a criminal first for the group, which awaits an even larger civil trial in the fall. .

At the head of the justice of the State of New York, Letitia James, an elected Democrat, has indeed filed a complaint against Donald Trump, his children and the Trump Organization.

She accuses them of having “deliberately” manipulated the valuations of the group’s assets – which includes golf clubs, luxury hotels and other properties – to obtain more advantageous loans from banks or reduce its taxes.

She is seeking $250 million in damages on behalf of the state, as well as bans from running companies for the ex-president and his relatives.

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