A guide to Donald Trump’s four criminal cases

Republican Donald Trump will face Democratic presidential candidate and current Vice President Kamala Harris in the November election. How might his criminal prosecutions impact his campaign?

The 78-year-old is the first former president in US history to be criminally convicted of falsifying business records.

A few weeks later, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that he enjoys partial immunity in perhaps the most serious case he faces – that he tried to overturn the 2020 election results.

And it didn’t take long for the former president to score another legal victory when a Florida judge dismissed a case related to his handling of classified documents.

So what might happen next in his four criminal cases and what is at stake as he tries to return to the White House?

Whether Trump illegally conspired to overturn his 2020 election loss in favor of Joe Biden.

Federal prosecutors allege he pressured officials to overturn the results, knowingly spread lies about voter fraud and attempted to exploit the Capitol insurrection on January 6, 2021, to delay the certification of Mr. Biden’s victory and gain power remain.

He is charged with four crimes, including conspiracy to defraud the United States and conspiracy to violate the rights of citizens.

In August, U.S. prosecutors issued revised indictments to avoid a Supreme Court ruling that gave presidents broad immunity from prosecution for “official acts.”

A revised indictment retains the four felony counts that special counsel Jack Smith has argued relate to Trump’s conduct as a private citizen who used campaign efforts to try to overturn the election results.

In a legal brief accompanying the indictment, Mr. Smith revealed a series of new allegations and evidence against Trump, including that the former president repeatedly ignored advice from his advisers that he lost the 2020 election and parroted false claims of voter fraud, which he himself described as “crazy”.

Trump has denied wrongdoing in the case and previously pleaded not guilty.

Due to the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling, it doesn’t look like this will happen any time soon.

A revised indictment shows that Department of Justice (DoJ) Special Counsel Jack Smith is interpreting the Supreme Court’s immunity decision to allow his case to move forward.

Mr. Smith’s office said the superseding indictment had been presented to a new grand jury that had not previously heard evidence in the case.

If Trump wins re-election, he could theoretically pardon himself or order the dismissal of all of these charges.

Penalties for the fees include:

• Conspiracy to defraud the United States is punishable by a fine or up to five years in prison
• Obstructing an official procedure is punishable by a fine or a prison sentence of up to 20 years
• Conspiracy against rights is punishable by a fine or imprisonment not exceeding 10 years, or both
• But there are logistical, security and political questions about whether Trump would actually serve prison time even if convicted.

A conviction in court would take the United States into uncharted territory.

A payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016 election.

Ms Daniels was paid $130,000 (£103,000) to cover up her claim that she had sex with Trump, which he denies.

Providing so-called hush money is not illegal.

Instead, this case was more technical in nature and focused on how Trump’s former lawyer, who paid Ms. Daniels, had his reimbursement recorded as legal fees in Trump’s accounts.

The prosecution’s key witness was former lawyer Michael Cohen, who testified that his former boss knew about the elaborate plan to conceal the payment.

In days of heated cross-examinations, Trump’s lawyers tried to undermine Cohen and portray him as an unreliable witness and a convicted liar.

Jurors deliberated for two days before finding the former president guilty on all 34 counts of fraud under campaign finance laws.

Trump said the case was politically motivated.

His lawyers are calling for the verdict to be overturned, citing the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling.

Each of the charges carries a maximum four-year prison sentence, although a judge could sentence Trump to probation. His sentencing was postponed until after the 2024 election.

Legal experts told the BBC they believe it is unlikely Trump will go to prison and that a fine is the more likely outcome.

Trump and around 18 other defendants are accused of criminally conspiring to overturn his extremely narrow defeat in the state of Georgia in the 2020 election.

The racketeering investigation led by Georgia prosecutor Fani Willis was sparked in part by a leaked phone call in which the former president asked the state’s top election official to “find 11,780 votes.”

Trump was charged with 13 felonies, which were subsequently reduced to eight. This includes an alleged violation of Georgia’s Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (Rico).

The former president pleaded not guilty.

A date has not been set. The timeline has been complicated by an attempt by Trump and his allies to disqualify Ms. Willis over her romantic relationship with a man she hired to work on the case.

An appeals court has tentatively set December 5 – after the election – as the date to hear oral arguments in Ms. Willis’ motion to remove her.

The racketeering charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

To secure a conviction, Georgia prosecutors would have to prove that Trump and his co-defendants engaged in a pattern of corruption aimed at overturning the election results.

False information can be punished with a prison sentence of one to five years or a fine.

Whether Trump mishandled classified documents by taking them from the White House to his Mar-a-Lago residence after he left office.

The case against Trump also involves whether he hindered the FBI’s efforts to recover the files and the criminal investigation into his handling of them.

Most of the charges involve the deliberate withholding of national defense information, which falls under the Espionage Act.

There are then eight separate charges, including conspiracy to obstruct justice, withholding a document or record and making false statements. Trump pleaded not guilty to all counts.

The case was dismissed by a Florida judge on July 15, marking a significant legal victory for Trump just days after he survived an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania.

Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, dismissed the court on the grounds that the Justice Department’s appointment of special prosecutor Jack Smith violated the U.S. Constitution.

Mr Smith appealed the decision after Judge Cannon canceled the May 20 trial date without setting a new date.

Trump and his lawyers have long tried to delay the case until after the presidential election in November.

If the case is reopened, these charges could theoretically result in significant prison sentences if Trump is convicted.

Looking at the wording of the law, the charges under the Espionage Act each carry a maximum sentence of 10 years. Other counts involving conspiracy and withholding or concealing documents each carry a maximum sentence of 20 years.

But the logistics of imprisoning a former president mean many experts consider a traditional prison sentence unlikely.