Here come de judge!
1/26/24 Update to I
12/13/2023 Update to II (Civil Fraud case)
12/13/2023 Update to I (Carroll case)
12/11/23 Update to #IV
11/30/23 update to #II
11/4/23 update to # III.
(8.4-minute read)
I don’t know how it’s going for others but I have a hard time keeping track all of the court cases involving Trump. Trump has been indicted 4 times this year and is facing a total of 91 criminal counts.[1] Others could still be indicted.
All of the indictments are available online. Links are provided in the various endnotes. If it works out, I’ll add to this post as trial conditions warrant.
Civil Cases
(I hesitate to use the word civil because Trump is rarely civil.)
I. E. Jean Carroll — v.— Donald J. Trump[2]
1/26/2024 The jury awarded E. Jean Carroll $83 million dollars in damages. Trump's lawyers will appeal the award.
12/13/2023 2nd Appeals court rejects Trump immunity defense.
Trump lost. There are 2 cases involving Carroll. She won them both.
She won her first case against Trump in a juried trial. The jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse and awarded her $5 million for damages and defamation.[3] Even though Trump was unable to get his dick into her, Judge Kaplan said it was rape. Due to a technicality of the law he was charged with “just” sexual abuse.
Trump’s attorney Tacopina said, “He’s firm in his belief, as many people are, that he cannot get a fair trial in New York City based on the jury pool.”
Carroll also won her second case against Trump with a directed verdict by the judge since Trump the genius defamed her again in practically the same way. The case is supposed to go before a jury in January just to determine damages.
After the verdict Trump promptly sued the victim for saying she was raped rather than sexually abused. His case was dismissed.
Trump’s lawyers have filed appeals. Trump has lost the overwhelming majority of his appeals. I hesitate to say all because so many have been filed that it’s hard for mere mortals to keep track. The MeidasTouch Network does an excellent job of tracking all the legal work taking place.
II. PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, by LETITIA JAMES, Attorney General of the State of New York –against– ALL the TRUMPS and ALL THE TRUMP BUSINESSES[4] (Just waaaay too many for me to type.)
AKA the Civil Fraud case.
12/13/2023 The case takes a 1 month hiatus.
11/30/23 The gag order that had been placed on Trump is upheld after some back and forthing in the courts.
Trump lost. All that’s being decided now is the amount of damages that will be paid
This is really a big case since it could effectively put Trump and his family out of business in New York state and cost him a few hundred million in back taxes and penalties. James is asking for a minimum of $250 million. This case was already decided in a directed verdict by Judge Engoron due to the overwhelming evidence of guilt. The jury is only going to decide the amount of damages. Trump now claims that he would rather have had a jury trial despite his earlier claims about not being able to get a fair jury in New York.
Sometimes, it’s hard for Trump to know what to whine about first. He has lawyers to help him prioritize.
III. Civil Action No. 23-cv-02291-PAB
NORMA ANDERSON, MICHELLE PRIOLA, CLAUDINE CMARADA, KRISTA KAFER, KATHI WRIGHT, and CHRISTOPHER CASTILIAN, Petitioners, v. JENA GRISWOLD, in her official capacity as Colorado Secretary of State, and DONALD J. TRUMP, Respondents.[5]
AKA The 14th Amendment Case
11/17/23 Update: The judge ruled that Trump was a part of the insurrection but his name will stay on the ballot in Colorado. The case has been appealed.
11/4/23 Update: Testimony is over. Final arguments are to be presented 11/15/23
The case is in progress. Arguments are being presented.
There’s a little bit of serendipity to this case. The case was filed to remove Trump from the ballot in the 2024 election because he violated the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. You know, when he tried to overthrow our government by calling for an insurrection so he could be el Presidente for life. This case is supposed to take a week. Then it will be appealed and appealed some more.
Ultimately, even if it’s won by the petitioners, it will only matter if Trump is removed from the ballot in swing states. I don’t see much chance of this being decided by 2024 especially if the Trump Supremes end up being involved.
It would be kind of poetic if this little case filed by some regular people ended up being so important.
Criminal Cases
Where to begin? I’ll start off with Special Counsel Jack Smith filing in Washington D. C. since it deals with the January 6, 2021 Trump coup attempt.
IV. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA V. DONALD J. TRUMP[6]
AKA The January 6 Case
2/6/2024 Update. The DC Court of Appeals denied that former President Trump does NOT have Presidential immunity. Their decision can be appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States. The 3 judge decision was unanimous.
12/11/23 Update. Special Counsel Jack Smith asked the Supreme Court to decide if former President Trump has immunity from prosecution. The Supreme Court agreed to hear the case. The Supreme Court declined to hear the case pending a ruling from the appeals court.
The trial is set to begin March 4th, 2024.[7]
Keep in mind that the current MAGA Rep. Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, was one of the key plotters to overturn the free and fair election that Trump lost. Yes, MAGA Mike was one of the coup plotters. There’s a surprise. He has not been charged. Yet.
How funny that would be to see the MAGA Mike charged in 2024? MAGA loves felons. Speaking of felons,
V. STATE OF GEORGIA v. DONALD J. TRUMP[8] (List of all those charged.)
AKA the Election Interference RICO Case
Trial dates for the remaining defendants have not yet been established.
Trump, Meadows, Giuliani, Clark and Eastman are the big fish in this case. There are 41 counts total charged against all 19 defendants with 13 of them being charged to Trump.
The judge in Georgia has so far been fast and efficient. In this case 3 lawyers have pled guilty so far and it’s reported that 6 more defendants are involved in plea agreements. Powell, Chesebro and Ellis are the lawyers that pled guilty so far along with a non-lawyer named Hall[9]. Trump’s lawyers. You know, when the people working for you start copping pleas it’s time to get real worried.
Trump used a bail bondsman to post his bail of $200,000.[10] It’s worth noting that Trump agreed to his terms for being released on bail.[11] He had to agree in all of the cases where he is out on bail.
The problem for Trump in Georgia is that he’s charged with state crimes and can’t be pardoned by any President should he be found guilty. A President can only pardon federal crimes. It’ll be the Georgia MAGA governor that pardons all the convicted seditionists in his state.
VI. THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA V. DONALD J. TRUMP, WALTINE NAUTA, and CARLOS DE OLIVEIRA[12]
AKA Classified Documents Case
The trial date is May 20th, 2024.[13]
This is the longest running case mainly due to Judge Cannon’s inept handling of basic legal proceedings. Cannon has already been overturned on appeal. As a veteran that handled Top Secret information, I am appalled at Trump’s handling of some of our nation’s sensitive information. The original indictment is sourced in this endnote.[14]
Trump’s defense in this so far has been to repeatedly admit that he did the crimes as charged. He has provided information that the prosecution can use because he just can’t shut up about the case.
VII. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK V. DONALD J. TRUMP[15]
AKA The Manhattan Hush Money Case
The trial date is March 25th, 2024.[16]
Trump is looking at 34 felony counts in this case. These charges are from before Trump became President. As a sitting President he wasn’t charged. This is the case where Trump’s lawyer Michael Cohen pled guilty and served time. Again, it’s not a good thing when Trump’s lawyer opted for a plea deal rather than go to trial.
Right now, the case is on the back burner as Letitia James pursues her civil case. I don’t look for anything to happen with Bragg until this case wraps up. Bragg won’t wait on all the appeals that will surely follow.
Previous Cases
I’m going
to cover a couple of previous cases just to illustrate that Trump along with
his family and others have been found guilty by our system of justice.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, by BARBARA D. UNDERWOOD, Attorney General of the State of New York, Index No. Petitioner, -against- DONALD J. TRUMP, DONALD J. TRUMP JR., IVANKA TRUMP, ERIC F. TR and THE DONALD J TRUMP FOUNDATION[17]
Trump lost. New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood won her case against the Trump Foundation “charity”.[18] Trump and his kids didn’t do a very good job handling charity money. Trump used charity money for his 2016 campaign, to pay legal fees, to purchase sports memorabilia and a portrait of himself. The Trump Foundation was fined $2 million dollars and the money was divided among 8 charities. Then the charity was dissolved. Trump had to admit to wrongdoing. (BTW Trump said that he would never settle the case.)
AG Underwood, an appointee to the position, did not seek the office and Letitia James became AG in the next election.[19] That’s why James’ name is seen on the settlement obtained but not the initial filing.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, Plaintiff, v. 58th PRESIDENTIAL INAUGURAL COMMITTEE et al.,[20]
Trump lost. In this CIVIL case the inaugural committee for Trump used funds to overpay Trump for using his properties. Trump seems to be talented in finding ways to grift money in situations where other people’s money is involved. They settled for $750,000.[21]
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK -against- THE TRUMP CORPORATION, d/b/a THE TRUMP ORGANIZATION, TRUMP PAYROLL CORP., d/b/a THE TRUMP ORGANIZATION, ALLEN WEISSELBERG[22]
Trump lost. In this case Allen Weisselberg ended up taking the rap for 15 felonies and serving time. The company was fined 1.6 million dollars for committing 17 felonies. That was the maximum fine possible. Juan Merchan was the judge in this case.
PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK v TRUMP ENTREPENEUR[23]
Trump lost. The Trump University scam cost Trump a cool $25 million.[24] Trump said that he would never settle this one either.
There were 3 cases against Trump University.[25] All 3 were combined and settled in one judgement. What is worth noting about these cases is the people scammed were working people looking for ways to better themselves.
Election denial cases.
Litigation in the 2020 Election
Trump and company LOST them all.
Okay, there were 60 lawsuits about the election, trying to overturn the results. The reference at the end of this sentence provides an excellent breakdown of the suits filed with a few examples and their results.[26] There is also a Wikipedia page that provides extensive information with a lot of sourcing available.[27]
Election deniers are reality deniers. In the simplest possible terms, the reality of all these cases is that evidence of enough voter fraud to overturn the elections was, is and remains non-existent. To this day Trump and his election deniers including the MAGA Speaker of the House talk about having evidence of massive fraud. They don’t have it. They never had it. What they have is lies.
You cannot both believe in our system of government and reject all of our Constitutional institutions and branches of government are dishonest and corrupt. The corruption and dishonesty are the MAGA movement trying to overturn our form of government.
They are traitors to our nation and history.
https://yadayadayadablahblah.blogspot.com/
[1] https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/where-the-criminal-cases-against-trump-stand
[2] https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca2/20-3977/20-3977-2023-04-21.html
[3] https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/09/politics/e-jean-carroll-trump-lawsuit-battery-defamation-verdict/index.html
[4] https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/read-text-attorney-general-letitia-james-lawsuit-trump-children-compan-rcna48774
[5] https://www.courts.state.co.us/userfiles/file/Court_Probation/02nd_Judicial_District/Denver_District_Court/Cases%20of%20Interest/Order%20from%20US%20Dist%20Court%20remanding%20case%20back%20to%20Denver%20District%20Court.pdf
[6] https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/read-full-the-indictment-against-trump-for-his-efforts-to-overturn-the-2020-election
[7] https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-trial-dates-republican-presidential-primary-calendar/
[8] https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/read-the-full-georgia-indictment-against-trump-and-18-allies
[9] https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/bail-bondsman-scott-hall-takes-plea-deal-in-georgia-election-interference-case
[10] https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-uses-bail-bondsman-georgia-alarm-bells-finances-1822417
[11] https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-bond-agreement-read-bail-conditions-1821580
[12] Florida Superseding Indictment: https://d3i6fh83elv35t.cloudfront.net/static/2023/07/gov.uscourts.flsd_.648652.85.0_2.pdf
[13] https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-trial-dates-republican-presidential-primary-calendar/
[14] Original Florida Indictment: https://d3i6fh83elv35t.cloudfront.net/static/2023/06/trump-indictment.pdf
[15] Hush Money Indictment: https://d3i6fh83elv35t.cloudfront.net/static/2023/04/Donald-J.-Trump-SOF.pdf
[16] https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-trial-dates-republican-presidential-primary-calendar/
[17] https://ag.ny.gov/sites/default/files/court_stamped_petition.pdf
[18] https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/2019/donald-j-trump-pays-court-ordered-2-million-illegally-using-trump-foundation
[19] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Underwood
[20] https://oag.dc.gov/sites/default/files/2022-02/2020CA000488B-ReconOrder.pdf
[21] https://oag.dc.gov/sites/default/files/2022-05/Consent%20Mot.%20Settlement%20Order.pdf
[23] https://www.nycourts.gov/Reporter/pdfs/2014/2014_30305.pdf
[24] https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/federal-court-approves-25-million-trump-university-settlement-n845181
[25] https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=9dd7c8cd-e215-4e69-8337-2bffec14d885
[26] https://judicature.duke.edu/articles/2020-election-litigation-the-courts-held/
[27] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-election_lawsuits_related_to_the_2020_U.S._presidential_election
