Since March 2023, Donald Trump was indicted by grand juries six times in four criminal cases, was convicted by a jury once, had a mugshot taken, ordered to pay millions in damages by two civil juries and was found liable for civil fraud by a Manhattan judge.

But as Trump nears his return to the White House following his election victory this month, his criminal and civil legal problems are beginning to fade into the background of his rapid presidential transition.

Trump has denied any wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty in each criminal case, and denies any wrongdoing in the civil cases. His return to the presidency will likely result in his four criminal cases being dismissed or suspended for at least four years.

Here is the status of each of its major files.

The secret money affair in New York

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More than a year after being indicted in New York for falsifying business records, Trump was convicted by jury in May on 34 counts related to the payment of hush money to adult film actress Stormy Daniels to improve Trump’s electoral chances in the 2016 presidential election.

Trump was originally scheduled to be sentenced in July, but his lawyers asked that the case be thrown out based on the Supreme Court’s new ruling on presidential immunity, arguing that the conviction was based on evidence that should be barred. The judge in the case, Juan Merchan, has yet to rule on the impact of the High Court’s immunity ruling.

After Trump won the election, his lawyers again insisted that the case be thrown out, arguing that sitting presidents should be shielded from prosecution. Prosecutors rejected that claim, arguing that Trump already had convictions for entirely private conduct — but they signaled a willingness to delay Trump’s sentencing until he leaves office in 2029.

Justice Merchan not weighed yet on either motion to dismiss the case. Trump’s sentencing is still scheduled for November 26, although it is unlikely to go ahead as planned.

Cases of interference in federal elections

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eight months after special counsel Jack Smith took control of the investigation into Trump’s alleged election interference, a Washington, D.C. grand jury Trump indicted in August 2023 on criminal charges that he illegally sought to overturn the results of the 2020 election in order to stay in power – but the case was shelved as Trump’s lawyers appealed based on the presidential immunity.

The Supreme Court ultimately ruled in July that Trump should enjoy the presumption of immunity for any official acts done while in office, and sent the case back to U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to determine whether the allegations contained official acts .

Prosecutors later revised their case against Trump — removing any allegations related to official acts, including Trump’s use of the Justice Department — and asked a grand jury to issue a new indictment against the former president in August.

Trump was re-elected while Judge Chutkan was evaluating which parts of the indictment would be covered by presidential immunity. Smith then suspended the case to “evaluate this unprecedented circumstance and determine the appropriate course of action, consistent with Department of Justice policy.”

Smith is expected to end his case against Trump in the coming months due to the Justice Department’s long-standing policy against prosecuting a sitting president. He faces a December 2 deadline to inform the court of its next steps.

Smith is also expected to submit a final report on his findings to Attorney General Merrick Garland, who will decide whether to make the documents public.

Federal Classified Documents Case

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In the other case brought by special counsel Jack Smith, a Florida federal grand jury Trump indicted and his aide Walt Nauta in June 2023 on criminal charges of possessing classified documents after leaving the White House and taking steps to thwart government efforts to recover them.

In July 2023, the grand jury returned an indictment against Trump and Nauta, as well as Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira.

Overseeing the case for nearly a year, Judge Aileen Cannon — whom Trump appointed to the bench — took up new legal arguments made by defense attorneys and delayed major rulings, preventing the case from proceeding. lead to a trial. She ultimately dismissed the case in July after concluding that Smith had been inappropriately appointed to his position.

Smith appealed Cannon’s decision to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, arguing that legal precedent and history support the attorney general’s ability to appoint special advocates. But after Trump’s re-election, he asked the court to stay the appeal last week to assess the “unprecedented circumstances” resulting from the DOJ’s policy barring the sitting president from being prosecuted.

The case is now on pause until Dec. 2 while Smith weighs his options for closing the case, including whether to eventually pursue the case only against Trump’s co-defendants.

Georgia election interference case

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n August, Trump and 18 co-defendants were criminally accused in a sweeping racketeering indictment related to their alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election in the state of Georgia, including Trump’s asking Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to ” find” the votes needed to win after losing to Joe Biden.

Four of the defendants in the case have reached plea deals, while some of the remaining defendants have launched a bid to have District Attorney Fani Willis, who brought the case, disqualified because of her relationship with a fellow prosecutor .

Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee refused to disqualify Willis if the prosecutor resigned, but the case has been put on hold while Trump and his co-defendants appeal the decision. An appeal argument was originally scheduled for Dec. 5, but was unexpectedly canceled this week, without explanation.

Meanwhile, Judge McAfee also reduced the indictment, dismissing five of the 13 counts Trump was originally charged with.

If the case ever returns to the trial court, Trump’s lawyers could mount a presidential immunity defense to try to get the case thrown out, experts say. When asked what the impact of a Trump election victory would be, defense attorney Steve Sadow suggested last year that the case should probably wait until Trump leaves office.

The Fulton County Prosecutor’s Office previously declined to comment on the future of the case.

New York civil fraud case

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fter a lengthy civil trial last year, a New York judge found Trump, his adult sons and their associates civilly responsible for committing a decade of commercial fraud.

With interest, Trump and his co-defendants owe nearly $489 million and are barred from running a business in New York. They put up a $175 million bond secured by cash held in Trump’s Charles Schwab account.

A New York appeals court was receptive to some of Trump’s arguments challenging the September ruling, with one judge calling the sanction “troubling.” A decision on Trump’s appeal is expected in the coming months, and Trump could still appeal the ruling to New York’s highest court.

Civil Affairs E. Jean Carroll

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the rump owes to the writer E. Jean Carroll almost 90 million dollars after losing two civil cases against the former Elle magazine columnist.

In 2023, a jury awarded Carroll $5 million in damages when it found Trump responsible for sexually assaulting her in the dressing room of a Manhattan department store in the 1990s, then having her defamed on social networks.

The following year, a separate jury awarded Carroll an additional $83.3 million for defamatory statements made by Trump while he was president.

Trump obtained the smaller cash judgment and used a bond from Virginia-based Federal Insurance Company totaling $91,630,000 for the second judgment. He appealed both cases.

In September, a federal appeals court was skeptical of Trump’s willingness to hold a new civil trial, suggesting it would be “very difficult” to overturn the 2023 jury verdict.

“Mr. Trump’s election to the presidency does not change either the fact, as determined by two separate juries, that he sexually assaulted and defamed Ms. Carroll, or the applicable legal principles under which he was held liable of this conduct,” Carroll said. Attorney Roberta Kaplan said in a statement this month after the election.