The latest on Trump’s four pending trials – The Washington Post
Welcome to The Trump Trials, our newest effort to keep readers up to date on the many criminal cases the 45th president is fighting in federal and state courts.
The goal is a weekly, one-stop shop to better understand what is happening in each of the four criminal cases — putting developments in perspective so you can see what are mountains and what are molehills in the legal landscape.
We’d love to hear from you along the way. Please email us with feedback — perry.stein@washpost.com and devlin.barrett@washpost.com — and questions you’d like us to answer.
Let’s get started:
Pretrial-palooza has officially begun, with hearings expected at least in Florida and Georgia this week, along with court filings and potentially more grand jury activity in D.C.
To help you keep track of the four — yes, four — pending criminal Trump trials, here is a guide to what comes next, followed by a recap of what happened last week.
Looking ahead:
Now a recap from last week:
The details: Trump faces 13 state charges, with prosecutors alleging that he tried to undo the election results in that state. He was charged along with 18 other people.
GRAND JURY INVESTIGATION
Prosecutor secretly presents evidence to a grand jury of 23 county residents and three alternates. At least 16 of them must be present. Twelve votes are needed to indict.
NO INDICTMENT
INDICTMENT
No charges filed
VOLUNTARY
SURRENDER
ARREST
PROCESS AS A DEFENDANT
Fingerprints and photos are usually taken.
ARRAIGNMENT
Trump and his 18 co-defendants have waived their in-person arraignment and pleaded not guilty in writing.
PRETRIAL HEARINGS
Hearings have already begun to address
defendants seeking to move their part of the
case to federal court, delay the trial or speed
it up — or dismiss it altogether.
Source: Fulton County Superior Court
NICK MOURTOUPALAS/THE WASHINGTON POST
GRAND JURY INVESTIGATION
Prosecutor secretly presents evidence to a grand jury
of 23 county residents and three alternates.
At least 16 of them must be present.
Twelve votes are needed to indict.
NO INDICTMENT
INDICTMENT
VOLUNTARY
SURRENDER
ARREST
PROCESS AS A DEFENDANT
Fingerprints and photos are taken.
ARRAIGNMENT
Trump and his 18 co-defendants have waived their in-person arraignment and pleaded not guilty in writing.
PRETRIAL HEARINGS
Hearings have already begun to address defendants
seeking to move their part of the case to federal court,
delay the trial or speed it up — or dismiss it altogether.
Source: Fulton County Superior Court
NICK MOURTOUPALAS/THE WASHINGTON POST
GRAND JURY INVESTIGATION
Prosecutor secretly presents evidence to a grand jury of 23 county
residents and three alternates. At least 16 of them must be
present. Twelve votes are needed to indict.
NO INDICTMENT
INDICTMENT
No charges filed
ARREST
VOLUNTARY SURRENDER
PROCESS AS A DEFENDANT
Fingerprints and photos are taken.
ARRAIGNMENT
Trump and his 18 co-defendants have waived their in-person
arraignment and pleaded not guilty in writing.
PRETRIAL HEARINGS
Hearings have already begun to address defendants seeking to move
their part of the case to federal court, delay the trial or speed it up —
or dismiss it altogether.
Source: Fulton County Superior Court
NICK MOURTOUPALAS/THE WASHINGTON POST
What you need to know: A judge unsealed papers revealing that a special grand jury originally recommended indicting many more people, including: Sen. Lindsey O. Graham, (R-S.C.) former senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, both Georgia Republicans, as well as Trump campaign attorneys Cleta Mitchell and Boris Epshteyn and former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn.
Prosecutors told Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee they expect it to take up to four months to try those who were charged. That’s because they have 150 witnesses to call to the stands. 150! Let’s see, 150 times 19 cross-examinations adds up to … forever. Roughly forever. And potentially right in the middle of Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign.
Trump said in a filing that he may seek to move the Georgia case from state to federal court. His co-defendant and former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, has been unsuccessful so far in that effort.
Also last week, Trump and several co-defendants waived their right to in-person arraignments and entered not-guilty pleas in writing. Here’s how many charges all 19 face.
Number of
charges
1
5
10
13
13 Donald
Trump
13 Rudy
Giuliani
12 Ray
Smith
11 Cathy
Latham
10 Robert
Cheeley
9 John
Eastman
8 David
Shafer
7 Kenneth
Chesebro
7 Misty
Hampton
7 Sidney
Powell
7 Shawn
Still
7 Mike
Roman
3 Trevian
Kutti
7 Scott
Hall
5 Stephen
Lee
3 Harrison
Floyd
2 Jenna
Ellis
2 Jeffrey
Clark
2 Mark
Meadows
Number of
charges
Number of
charges
1
1
5
5
10
10
13
13
13 Rudy Giuliani
13 Donald Trump
12 Ray Smith
11 Cathy Latham
10 Robert Cheeley
7 Kenneth Chesebro
7 Sidney Powell
7 Shawn Still
9 John Eastman
8 David Shafer
7 Mike Roman
7 Misty Hampton
7 Scott Hall
5 Stephen Lee
3 Harrison Floyd
3 Trevian Kutti
2 Jenna Ellis
2 Jeffrey Clark
2 Mark Meadows
Number of
charges
1
5
10
13
13 Rudy Giuliani
13 Donald Trump
12 Ray Smith
11 Cathy Latham
10 Robert Cheeley
7 Kenneth Chesebro
7 Sidney Powell
7 Shawn Still
9 John Eastman
8 David Shafer
7 Mike Roman
7 Misty Hampton
7 Scott Hall
5 Stephen Lee
3 Harrison Floyd
3 Trevian Kutti
2 Jenna Ellis
2 Jeffrey Clark
2 Mark Meadows
The details: Trump faces four federal charges for alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
What you need to know: The biggest D.C. courthouse news last week was only tangentially related to Trump. Former Proud Boys leader Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, who helped organize the Jan. 6, 2021, attack of the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters trying to block Biden’s victory, was sentenced to 22 years in prison.
The D.C. grand jury that voted to indict Trump continued to meet last week, an indication that the investigation continues and additional indictments are possible.
The details: Trump faces 40 federal charges over accusations that he kept top-secret government documents at Mar-a-Lago — his home and private club — and then thwarted government demands that he return them. Two Trump employees were also charged.
What you need to know: Federal prosecutors and lawyers representing Trump’s two co-defendants kept arguing over whether the lawyers have represented too many witnesses in the case to fairly advise their clients. The government wants Judge Aileen M. Cannon to hold a hearing about it. The lawyers say that’s unnecessary. These types of disputes are fairly common, but this one has become a weeks-long, drawn-out debate.
The details: Trump faces 34 state charges in connection with hush money paid to adult-film actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 campaign.
That stage was dark again last week. But in an unrelated civil lawsuit, a judge found Trump liable for defaming writer E. Jean Carroll in 2019 after she accused him of raping her decades earlier. Jurors will only consider whether and how much Trump owes Carroll in damages when that trial starts in January.
The nerd word of the week is … interlocutory: It’s a type of appeal that defendants may file before a trial is concluded. Interlocutory appeals are both rare and rarely successful, because in most instances, courts don’t let defendants file appeals before a final trial judgment has been issued.
When Trump claimed recently he would appeal a March 4 trial date for his case in Washington, legal experts quickly shot that idea down as unworkable. Trump’s best shot at an interlocutory appeal in his D.C. trial, they say, is the question of whether his actions while president were covered by executive immunity.
More about that from Devlin here.
Thanks for reading our newsletter. Have questions about the cases? Email us and we will try to answer some in next week’s edition!
Suggested read: Meet the team of federal prosecutors preparing to try Donald Trump