November 18, 2022: The Department Of Justice Appointed Jack Smith As Special Counsel Over The Mar-a-Lago And January 6th Insurrection Investigations. According to CNN, “Attorney General Merrick Garland on Friday appointed a special counsel to oversee the criminal investigations into the retention of national defense information at former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort and parts of the January 6, 2021, insurrection. […] Jack Smith, the former chief prosecutor for the special court in The Hague, where he investigated war crimes in Kosovo, will oversee the investigations.” [CNN, 11/18/22]
August 8, 2022: The FBI Searched Mar-a-Lago For Classified Documents From The White House. According to the Associated Press, “The FBI searched Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate as part of an investigation into whether he took classified records from the White House to his Florida residence, people familiar with the matter said Monday, a move that represents a dramatic and unprecedented escalation of law enforcement scrutiny of the former president.” [Associated Press, 8/9/22]
The Search Warrant Cited Possible Violations Of The Espionage Act. According to the New York Times, “The warrant said the agents would be searching for material as they investigated potential violations of the Espionage Act, which outlaws the unauthorized retention of defense-related information that could harm the United States or aid a foreign adversary — a standard that was written by Congress before the creation of the modern classification system.” [New York Times, 8/12/22]
December 8, 2022: A Federal Court Of Appeals Overturned The Appointment Of A Special Master Who Was Charged With Overseeing Documents Seized By The FBI. According to Politico, “Former President Donald Trump’s quest for outside supervision of the Justice Department’s investigation into sensitive White House records seized at his Mar-a-Lago estate came to an end Thursday, after he failed to challenge an appeals court ruling rejecting such oversight. Trump had a week to contest the issue before the full bench of the Atlanta-based 11th Circuit Court of Appeals or at the Supreme Court, but he did not. The appeals court formalized its ruling Thursday afternoon ending the so-called ‘special master’ process a lower judge established in September.” [Politico, 12/8/22]
December 9, 2022: Judge Howell Declined To Hold Trump In Contempt For Failing To Certify Documents Were Fully Turned Over. According to CNN, “A federal judge declined to hold former President Donald Trump in contempt of court in a closed-door hearing on Friday, two sources familiar with the matter told CNN. The sources also told CNN that Chief Judge Beryl Howell instead pressed the Trump team and the Justice Department to work together to find a mutually agreeable resolution. ABC News first reported the judge had urged the teams to resolve the matter themselves. The contempt proceedings for Trump ended after almost 90 minutes behind closed doors on Friday afternoon at a Washington, DC, courthouse. CNN observed prosecutors, including the Justice Department’s counterintelligence chief Jay Bratt, and attorneys for Trump exiting the courthouse just before 3:30 p.m. ET. The two legal teams had gathered in the chambers area for Howell, who was set to consider whether to hold Trump in contempt for failing to comply with a subpoena ordering him to turn over classified records, according to CNN’s reporting. […] The DOJ sought to hold Trump and his office in contempt for not fully complying with the subpoena following the search of his Mar-a-Lago resort in August. Being held in contempt over subpoenas for documents has become a feature of the former president’s court tangles since he left office.” [CNN, 12/9/22]
December 12, 2022: Judge Cannon Dismissed Trump Attempt To Impose Special Master. According to CNN, “The special master review of evidence seized from former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate is no more. Judge Aileen Cannon on Monday formally dismissed the case, which Trump brought to challenge the Mar-a-Lago evidence collection and in which she appointed special master Raymond Dearie, another judge, to make recommendations on whether prosecutors could access evidence.” [CNN, 12/12/22]
Summer 2023: Smith’s Team Suggested Initial Charging Decisions May Come As Early As This Summer And Would Likely Concern Trump’s Handling Of Classified Material. According to the New York Times, “Some investigators on Mr. Smith’s team believe that any initial charging decisions, expected as early as this summer, will involve the investigation into whether Mr. Trump illegally kept classified materials at his Florida estate and obstructed repeated efforts to retrieve them. That case involves a more discrete set of facts than the sprawling examination into Mr. Trump’s actions leading up to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.” [New York Times, 1/11/23]
July 2022: Sources Said The Department Of Justice Was Investigating Trump’s Actions To Overturn The 2020 Election. According to the Washington Post, “The Justice Department is investigating President Donald Trump’s actions as part of its criminal probe of efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, according to four people familiar with the matter. Prosecutors who are questioning witnesses before a grand jury — including two top aides to Vice President Mike Pence — have asked in recent days about conversations with Trump, his lawyers, and others in his inner circle who sought to substitute Trump allies for certified electors from some states Joe Biden won, according to two people familiar with the matter. Both spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation.” [Washington Post, 7/26/22]
September 2022: The Justice Department Was Investigating The Fake Electors Plot, False Election Fraud Claims, Legal Efforts To Challenge Trump’s Electoral Loss, And The Effort To Finance Efforts To Overturn The 2020 Election. According to CNN, “Justice Department criminal prosecutors are now examining nearly every aspect of former President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election – including the fraudulent electors plot, efforts to push baseless election fraud claims and how money flowed to support these various efforts – according to sources and copies of new subpoenas obtained by CNN. The investigation is also stretching into cogs of the sprawling Trump legal machine that boosted his efforts to challenge his electoral loss – with many of the recipients of 30-plus subpoenas that were issued in recent days being asked to turn over communications with several Trump attorneys.” [CNN, 9/13/22]
November 2022: The U.S. Attorney’s Office In Washington Subpoenaed Giuliani For Records Concerning His Representation Of Trump. According to the New York Times, “Rudolph W. Giuliani, the lawyer who oversaw former President Donald J. Trump’s legal challenges to the 2020 election, has received a grand jury subpoena for records related to his representation of Mr. Trump, including those that detailed any payments he received, a person familiar with the matter said on Monday. The subpoena, which was sent in November, bore the name of a prosecutor in the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington. It predated the appointment of Jack Smith, the special counsel chosen to take over the Justice Department’s investigation of the roles that Mr. Trump and several of his aides and lawyers played in seeking to overturn the results of the election. It remained unclear, however, if Mr. Smith and his team have assumed control of the part of the inquiry related to Mr. Giuliani.” [New York Times, 1/9/23]
December 2022: Election Officials In Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania, And Wisconsin Were Subpoenaed For Any And All Communication With Trump, His Aides And Allies, And His Campaign. According to the Associated Press, “Special counsel Jack Smith has subpoenaed local election officials in Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona and Pennsylvania, asking for communications with or involving former President Donald Trump, his 2020 campaign aides and a list of allies involved in his efforts to try to overturn the results of the election. The requests, issued to Milwaukee and Dane counties in Wisconsin; Wayne County, Michigan; Maricopa County, Arizona; and Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, are the first known subpoenas by Smith, who was named special counsel last month by Attorney General Merrick Garland.” [Associated Press, 12/6/22]
December 2022: Special Counsel Sent Grand Jury Subpoena To Georgia Secretary Of State Raffensperger And Election Officials In Nevada. According to the Washington Post, “Special counsel Jack Smith has sent grand jury subpoenas to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and to authorities in Clark County, Nev., bringing to six the number of 2020 battleground states where state or local election officials are known to have received such requests for any and all communications with Trump, his campaign, and a long list of aides and allies.” [Washington Post, 12/12/22]
December 2022: Trump Campaign Officials Received A Subpoena In December From The January 6th Grand Jury. According to the Washington Post, “A wide-ranging subpoena sent to Trump campaign officials last month shows new areas of investigative interest as part of the Justice Department’s extensive Jan. 6 criminal probe, according to a copy reviewed by The Washington Post, and lawyers say a grand jury focused on the day’s events and related fundraising has increased its activities in recent months. The subpoena was received in early December, according to a former Trump campaign official who provided the document to The Post on the condition of anonymity because a criminal investigation is ongoing. The document seeks more than two dozen categories of information, and includes some questions that were not part of a series of similar subpoenas reviewed by The Post that were sent to several dozen people in September.” [Washington Post, 1/11/23]
June 24, 2021: Speaker Pelosi Announced Creation Of A Select Committee To Investigate The January 6th Attack On The Capitol. According to CNN, “House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced Thursday she will create a select committee to investigate the January 6 attack on the Capitol after Republicans blocked the formation of an independent commission. The select committee will corral the various House Democratic investigations into the events surrounding the deadly insurrection into a single effort to examine what led to pro-Donald Trump supporters breaching the Capitol and disrupting the certification of President Joe Biden’s November 2020 election win.” [CNN, 6/24/21]
June 9, 2022: The First Committee Hearing Opened With Chairman Thompson Saying Trump “Was At The Center Of This Conspiracy.” According to the Washington Post, “The House Select Committee to Investigate the Jan. 6 Attack on the United States Capitol opened a landmark set of hearings on Thursday by showing video of aide after aide to former President Donald J. Trump testifying that his claims of a stolen election were false, as the panel laid out in meticulous detail the extent of the former president’s efforts to keep himself in office. Over about two hours, the panel offered new information about what it characterized as an attempted coup orchestrated by Mr. Trump that culminated in the deadly assault on the Capitol. The panel’s leaders revealed that investigators heard testimony that Mr. Trump endorsed the hanging of his own vice president as a mob of his supporters descended on Congress. They also said they had evidence that members of Mr. Trump’s cabinet discussed invoking the 25th Amendment to remove him from office. The session kicked off an ambitious effort by the nine-member committee, which was formed after Republicans blocked the creation of a nonpartisan commission, to lay out the full story of a remarkable assault on U.S. democracy, orchestrated by a sitting president, that led to a deadly riot, an impeachment and a crisis of confidence in the political system. ‘Donald Trump was at the center of this conspiracy,’ said Representative Bennie Thompson, Democrat of Mississippi and the chairman of the committee. ‘And ultimately, Donald Trump, the president of the United States, spurred a mob of domestic enemies of the Constitution to march down the Capitol and subvert American democracy.’” [Washington Post, 6/9/22]
October 13, 2022: The House January 6th Committee Voted Unanimously To Subpoena Trump. According to the Associated Press, “The House Jan. 6 committee voted unanimously to subpoena former President Donald Trump, demanding his personal testimony as it unveiled startling new video and described his multi-part plan to overturn his 2020 election loss, which led to his supporters’ fierce assault on the U.S. Capitol. With alarming messages from the U.S. Secret Service warning of violence and vivid new video of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other congressional leaders pleading for help, the panel on Thursday showed the raw desperation at the Capitol. Using language frequently seen in criminal indictments, the panel said Trump had acted in a ‘premeditated’ way before Jan. 6, 2021, despite countless aides and officials telling him he had lost.” [Associated Press, 10/14/22]
December 19, 2022: The House January 6th Committee Issued Four Criminal Referrals Of Trump To The Department Of Justice. According to the Associated Press, “The House Jan. 6 committee urged the Justice Department on Monday to bring criminal charges against Donald Trump for the violent 2021 Capitol insurrection, calling for accountability for the former president and ‘a time of reflection and reckoning.’ After one of the most exhaustive and aggressive congressional probes in memory, the panel’s seven Democrats and two Republicans are recommending criminal charges against Trump and associates who helped him launch a wide-ranging pressure campaign to try to overturn his 2020 election loss. The panel also released a lengthy summary of its final report, with findings that Trump engaged in a ‘multi-part conspiracy’ to thwart the will of voters. At a final meeting Monday, the committee alleged violations of four criminal statutes by Trump, in both the run-up to the riot and during the insurrection itself, as it recommended the former president for prosecution to the Justice Department.” [Associated Press, 12/19/22]
December 22, 2022: The January 6th Committee Released Their Report Which Recommended Trump Be Barred From Federal Office. According to NPR, “After roughly 18 months of investigations, the House committee investigating the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol has released their full report. The document, which is more than 800 pages long, recommends the Justice Department pursue criminal charges against former President Donald Trump for his role in the attack. And they say Congress should act to bar Trump, and others involved in the Jan. 6 insurrection, from ever holding federal office again.” [NPR, 12/23/22]
The House January 6th Committee Said Trump May Have Violated Laws On Conspiracy To Prevent The Discharge Of Official Duties And Conspiracy To Prevent Execution Of The Law. According to the Executive Summary of the Final Report of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, “Depending on evidence developed by the Department of Justice, the President’s actions with the knowledge of the risk of violence could also constitute a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 372 and § 2384, both of which require proof of a conspiracy. Section 372 prohibits a conspiracy between two or more persons ‘to prevent, by force, intimidation, or threat, any person from accepting or holding any office, trust, or place of confidence under the United States, or from discharging any duties thereof, or to induce by like means any officer of the United States to leave the place, where his duties as an officer are required to be performed, or to injure him in the discharge of his official duties.’ Oath Keepers Kelly Meggs, Kenneth Harrelson, and Jessica Watkins were convicted of violating 18 U.S.C. § 372 in connection with the January 6th attack on the Capitol.650 The Committee believes that former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows (who refused to testify and was held in contempt of Congress) could have specific evidence relevant to such charges, as may witnesses who invoked their Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination before this Committee. Section 2384, the seditious conspiracy statute, prohibits ‘conspir[acy] to overthrow, put down, or to destroy by force the Government of the United States . . . or to oppose by force the authority thereof, or by force to prevent, hinder or delay the execution of any law of the United States . . . .’” [Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, 12/22/22]
The House January 6th Committee Said Trump May Have Attempted To Obstruct Its Investigation. According to the Executive Summary of the Final Report of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, “The Committee has substantial concerns regarding potential efforts to obstruct its investigation, including by certain counsel (some paid by groups connected to the former President) who may have advised clients to provide false or misleading testimony to the Committee. Such actions could violate 18 U.S.C. §§ 1505, 1512. The Committee is aware that both the U.S. Department of Justice and the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office have already obtained information relevant to these matters, including from the Committee directly. We urge the Department of Justice to examine the facts to discern whether prosecution is warranted. The Committee’s broad concerns regarding obstruction and witness credibility are addressed in the Executive Summary to this Report.” [Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, 12/22/22]
May 10, 2019: The House Ways And Means Committee Subpoenaed Six Years Of Trump’s Tax Returns From The Treasury Department And The IRS. According to the New York Times, “The chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee subpoenaed the Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service on Friday, disregarding the Treasury secretary’s refusal this week to hand over six years of President Trump’s personal and business tax returns and demanding access. The subpoenas from Representative Richard E. Neal, Democrat of Massachusetts, to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Charles P. Rettig, the I.R.S. commissioner, amounted to an unexpected shift in tactics in the yearslong Democratic effort to secure tax returns that Mr. Trump has refused to release. Mr. Mnuchin had rejected a request for the returns made under a little-known provision of the federal tax code that dates back to the Teapot Dome scandal of Warren G. Harding’s administration nearly a century ago.” [New York Times, 5/10/19]
May 17, 2019: Treasury Secretary Mnuchin Refused The Subpoena. According to CNN, “Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin on Friday defied subpoenas from House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal for President Donald Trump’s tax returns. In a new letter, Mnuchin again says the request ‘lacks a legitimate legislative purpose’ and that he is ‘not authorized to disclose the requested returns and return information.’” [CNN, 5/17/22]
July 2, 2019: House Democrats Sued Mnuchin And IRS Commissioner Rettig. According to NPR, “House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., sued Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig to obtain six years of President Trump's tax returns. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., is the latest step in a months-long battle with the Trump administration over the president's tax records. Democrats want the court to enforce a subpoena requesting the returns.” [NPR, 7/2/19]
December 14, 2021: Federal Judge McFadden Ruled In Favor Of House Democrats. According to Politico, “A federal judge has rejected former President Donald Trump’s bid to block congressional Democrats from obtaining his tax returns. Judge Trevor McFadden, a Trump appointee to federal district court in Washington, said Trump was ‘wrong on the law’ and that Congress is due ‘great deference’ in its inquiries. ‘Even the special solicitude accorded former Presidents does not alter the outcome,’ McFadden wrote in a 45-page ruling. ‘The Court will therefore dismiss this case.’” [Politico, 12/14/21]
November 23, 2022: The Supreme Court Rejected Trump’s Appeal, Granting Congress Access To Trump’s Taxes. According to the BBC, “The US Supreme Court has cleared the way for ex-President Donald Trump's tax forms to be released to a Democratic-controlled congressional committee. The justices rejected Mr Trump's bid in October to block a lower court's ruling that granted the panel's request for his financial records. The move is a blow to Mr Trump, who has for years kept his returns sealed. He criticised the decision on Wednesday and said the Supreme Court had ‘lost its honour’.” [BBC, 11/23/22]
November 30, 2022: Congress Received The Tax Returns. According to CNN, “The House Ways and Means Committee now has six years of Donald Trump’s federal tax returns, ending a yearslong pursuit by Democrats to dig into one of the former president’s most closely guarded personal details. ‘Treasury has complied with last week’s court decision,’ a Treasury spokesperson told CNN on Wednesday.” [CNN, 11/30/22]
December 30, 2022: House Democrats Released Trump’s Federal Tax Returns From 2015 To 2020. According to the New York Times, “House Democrats released six years of former President Donald J. Trump’s tax records on Friday, offering new insight into his business dealings that further undermined his long-cultivated image as a wildly successful businessman.” [New York Times, 12/30/22]
January 23, 2023: House Democrats Asked The Government Accountability Office To Probe Why Trump’s Tax Returns Were Not Adequately Audited. According to Politico, “Democrats are asking a government watchdog to probe why the IRS didn’t adequately audit President Donald Trump despite its own guidelines and raising questions about potential political interference with the agency. Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.) and 14 other Democrats who were on the Ways and Means Committee when the circumstances surrounding Trump’s audit were disclosed want the Government Accountability Office to examine the long delay in auditing Trump under an IRS program that mandates the scrutiny of tax returns filed by every sitting president.” [Politico, 1/23/23]
July 1, 2021: The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office Charged The Trump Organization With Tax Fraud. According to the New York Times, “The Trump Organization, the real estate business that catapulted Donald J. Trump to tabloid fame, television riches and ultimately the White House, was charged Thursday with running a 15-year scheme to help its executives evade taxes by compensating them with fringe benefits that were hidden from the authorities. The Manhattan district attorney’s office, which has been conducting the investigation alongside the New York attorney general, also accused a top executive, Allen H. Weisselberg, of avoiding taxes on $1.7 million in perks that should have been reported as income. Mr. Weisselberg, Mr. Trump’s long-serving and trusted chief financial officer, faced grand larceny, tax fraud and other charges.” [New York Times, 7/1/21]
October 2021: The Trump Organization Was Held In Contempt In A Secret Trial After Prosecutors Claimed They Were “Willfully Disobeying” Grand Jury Subpoenas And Court Orders. According to the New York Times, “Donald J. Trump’s family business lost a criminal contempt trial that was held in secret last fall, according to a newly unsealed court document and several people with knowledge of the matter, with a judge ruling against the company almost exactly a year before it was convicted of a tax fraud scheme last week. The document, a judicial order released Tuesday, showed that in October 2021, a one-day contempt trial was held after prosecutors with the Manhattan district attorney’s office requested that the company be punished for ‘willfully disobeying’ four grand jury subpoenas and three court orders enforcing compliance.” [New York Times, 12/13/22]
August 18, 2022: Trump Organization CFO Weisselberg Pled Guilty To 15 Felonies In Plea Deal To Testify Against The Trump Organization. According to CNN, “Allen Weisselberg, the former chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, pleaded guilty Thursday to his role in a 15-year-long tax fraud scheme, and as part of the deal he has agreed to testify against former President Donald Trump’s real estate company at trial. In court Thursday, Weisselberg said, ‘Yes, your honor’ when asked if he was pleading guilty of his own choice. Weisselberg pleaded guilty to 15 felonies and admitted he failed to pay taxes on $1.7 million in income, including luxury perks, such as rent and utilities for a Manhattan apartment, leases for a pair of Mercedes-Benz cars and private school tuition for his grandchildren. He admitted to concealing those benefits from his accountant to under-report his income and knowingly omitting the income from his personal tax returns. Weisselberg answered a series of specific questions about the scheme from the judge in a hushed and barely audible tone, saying ‘Yes, your honor’ repeatedly. As part of the deal, he will pay nearly $2 million in back taxes, interest and penalties and waive any right to appeal.” [CNN, 8/18/22]
December 6, 2022: The Trump Organization Was Found Guilty On All 17 Counts Of Tax Fraud And Other Crimes For Giving Off-The-Books, Tax-Free Perks To Employees. According to the New York Times, “The Trump Organization, the family real estate business that made Donald J. Trump a billionaire and propelled him from reality television to the White House, was convicted on Tuesday of tax fraud and other crimes, forever tarring the former president and the company that bears his name. The conviction on all 17 counts, after more than a day of jury deliberations in State Supreme Court in Manhattan, stemmed from the company’s practice of doling out off-the-books perks to executives: They received luxury apartments, leased Mercedes-Benzes, extra cash at Christmas, even free cable television. They paid taxes on none of it.” [New York Times, 12/6/22]
January 10, 2023: Weisselberg Was Sentenced To Five Months In Jail And Five Years Of Probation And Ordered To Pay Nearly $2 Million In Taxes, Fees, And Penalties. According to the Associated Press, “Allen Weisselberg, a longtime executive for Donald Trump ’s business empire whose testimony helped convict the former president’s company of tax fraud, was sentenced Tuesday to five months in jail for dodging taxes on $1.7 million in job perks. Weisselberg, 75, was promised that sentence in August when he agreed to plead guilty to 15 tax crimes and to testify against the Trump Organization, where he’s worked since the mid-1980s and until his arrest, had served as chief financial officer. He was handcuffed and taken into custody moments after the sentence was announced and was expected to be taken to New York City’s notorious Rikers Island jail complex. Weisselberg will be eligible for release after a little more than three months if he behaves behind bars. As part of the plea agreement, Judge Juan Manuel Merchan also ordered Weisselberg to pay nearly $2 million in taxes, penalties and interest — which he has paid as of Jan. 3. Additionally, the judge ordered Weisselberg to complete five years of probation after his jail term is finished.” [Associated Press, 1/10/23]
January 13, 2023: The Trump Organization Received The Maximum Penalty, A $1.6 Million Fine, For Its Convictions On Tax Avoidance. According to the New York Times, “Former president Donald J. Trump’s family real estate business was ordered on Friday to pay a $1.6 million criminal penalty for its conviction on tax fraud and other charges, a stinging rebuke and the maximum possible punishment. The sentence, handed down by a judge in State Supreme Court in Manhattan, caps a lengthy legal ordeal for Mr. Trump’s company, the Trump Organization, which was convicted in December of doling out off-the-books perks to some of its top executives. One of the executives who orchestrated the scheme, Allen H. Weisselberg, pleaded guilty and testified at the company’s trial. He was sentenced on Tuesday to serve five months at the notorious Rikers Island jail complex.” [New York Times, 1/13/23]
October 2016: Trump Lawyer Michael Cohen Paid Stormy Daniels $130,000 For Being Silent About A Sexual Encounter With Donald Trump. According to the Wall Street Journal, “A lawyer for President Donald Trump arranged a $130,000 payment to a former adult-film star a month before the 2016 election as part of an agreement that precluded her from publicly discussing an alleged sexual encounter with Mr. Trump, according to people familiar with the matter. Michael Cohen, who spent nearly a decade as a top attorney at the Trump Organization, arranged payment to the woman, Stephanie Clifford, in October 2016 after her lawyer negotiated the nondisclosure agreement with Mr. Cohen, these people said. Ms. Clifford, whose stage name is Stormy Daniels, has privately alleged the encounter with Mr. Trump took place after they met at a July 2006 celebrity golf tournament on the shore of Lake Tahoe, these people said. Mr. Trump married Melania Trump in 2005.” [Wall Street Journal, 1/12/18]
August 21, 2018: Cohen Said He Made The Payment At The Request Of Trump While Pleading Guilty To Campaign Finance Law Violations. According to the New York Times, “Michael D. Cohen, President Trump’s former lawyer, made the extraordinary admission in court on Tuesday that Mr. Trump had directed him to arrange payments to two women during the 2016 campaign to keep them from speaking publicly about affairs they said they had with Mr. Trump. Mr. Cohen acknowledged the illegal payments while pleading guilty to breaking campaign finance laws and other charges, a litany of crimes that revealed both his shadowy involvement in Mr. Trump’s circle and his own corrupt business dealings. He told a judge in United States District Court in Manhattan that the payments to the women were made ‘in coordination with and at the direction of a candidate for federal office,’ implicating the president in a federal crime. ‘I participated in this conduct, which on my part took place in Manhattan, for the principal purpose of influencing the election’ for president in 2016, Mr. Cohen said.” [New York Times, 8/21/18]
July-August, 2019: Manhattan District Attorney Vance Opened An Investigation Into The Hush-Money Payment. According to the New York Times, “State prosecutors in Manhattan subpoenaed President Trump’s family business on Thursday, reviving an investigation into the company’s role in hush-money payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign, according to people briefed on the matter.The subpoena, issued by the Manhattan district attorney’s office, demanded the Trump Organization provide documents related to money that had been used to buy the silence of Stormy Daniels, a pornographic film actress who said she had an affair with Mr. Trump. The inquiry from the district attorney’s office, which is in early stages, is examining whether any senior executives at the company filed false business records about the hush money, which would be a state crime, the people said.” [New York Times, 8/1/19]
November 2022: The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office Jump-Started Criminal Investigation Into Trump, Focusing On The Hush-Money Payment To Daniels. According to the New York Times, “The Manhattan district attorney’s office has moved to jump-start its criminal investigation into Donald J. Trump, according to people with knowledge of the matter, seeking to breathe new life into an inquiry that once seemed to have reached a dead end. Under the new district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, the prosecutors have returned to the long-running investigation's original focus: a hush-money payment to a porn star who said she had an affair with Mr. Trump. The district attorney’s office first examined the payment to the actress, Stormy Daniels, years ago before changing direction to scrutinize Mr. Trump’s broader business practices. But Mr. Bragg and some of his deputies have recently indicated to associates, supporters and at least one lawyer involved in the matter that they are newly optimistic about building a case against Mr. Trump, the people said.” [New York Times, 11/21/22]
January 17, 2023: Manhattan DA’s Office Met With Former Trump Lawyer Cohen Over Hush Money Payments To Daniels. According to the New York Times, “The Manhattan district attorney’s office on Tuesday took a significant step forward in its investigation of Donald J. Trump, meeting with his former personal lawyer about hush money paid to a porn star who said she had an affair with Mr. Trump, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The questioning of the lawyer, Michael D. Cohen, offered the clearest sign yet that the district attorney’s office was ramping up its investigation into Mr. Trump’s role in the $130,000 hush money deal. Mr. Cohen has said publicly that Mr. Trump directed him, in the final days of the 2016 presidential campaign, to buy the silence of Stephanie Clifford, the actress known as Stormy Daniels. While the hush money was an impetus for the district attorney’s investigation, which began in 2018, prosecutors had shifted in recent years to a broader examination of Mr. Trump’s business practices. In recent months, however, the prosecutors returned to the payments, seeking to breathe new life into the investigation, The New York Times reported in November.” [New York Times, 1/17/23]
February 10, 2021: Fulton County District Attorney Willis Opened A Criminal Investigation Into Efforts By Trump To Overturn The Results Of The 2020 Presidential Election In Georgia. According to the New York Times, “Prosecutors in Georgia have started a criminal investigation into former President Donald J. Trump’s attempts to overturn Georgia’s election results, including a phone call he made to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in which Mr. Trump pressured him to ‘find’ enough votes to help him reverse his loss. On Wednesday, Fani T. Willis, the recently elected Democratic prosecutor in Fulton County, sent a letter to numerous officials in state government, including Mr. Raffensperger, requesting that they preserve documents related to ‘an investigation into attempts to influence’ the state’s 2020 presidential election. Of particular note in Ms. Willis’s letter was the wider scope of the investigation. Potential violations of state law include ‘the solicitation of election fraud, the making of false statements to state and local governmental bodies, conspiracy, racketeering, violation of oath of office and any involvement in violence or threats related to the election’s administration,’ the letter states.” [New York Times, 2/10/21]
January 24, 2022: Fulton County Judges Approved Willis’ Request For A Special Grand Jury . According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “The judges on Fulton County’s Superior Court bench on Monday cleared the way for a special grand jury to be used for District Attorney Fani Willis’ investigation of former President Donald Trump and his efforts to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election results. Chief Judge Christopher S. Brasher wrote that a majority of the judges had agreed to the request issued by Willis’ office late last week.” [Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 1/24/22]
May 2022: The Special Grand Jury Issued The First Round Of Subpoenas To Georgia Election Officials, Including Raffensperger. According to WXIA, “Willis has run into a similar issue with certain witnesses telling her office that they would only testify if sent a subpoena. Subpoenas for the case 11Alive received through an open records request show from the Georgia Secretary of State's Office that several staff members have been requested to testify before the jury. The list includes Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, Chief Operating Officer Gabriel Sterling, General Counsel Ryan Germany, former Head of Elections Division Chris Harvey, former Chief Investigator Frances Watson, and former executive assistant Victoria Thompson.” [WXIA, 5/31/22]
January 9, 2023: Fulton County Special Grand Jury Completed Its Work And The Judge Overseeing It Ordered It Dissolved. According to a tweet from Sam Gringlas, “The Fulton County special grand jury has completed its work and the judge has ordered it dissolved. The special grand jury has been investigating efforts by former President Trump and his allies to interfere with Georgia's 2020 election result. #gapol” [Twitter – Gringlas, 1/9/23]
January 24, 2023: Judge McBurney Said Fulton County Investigation Report Would Remain Under Seal Temporarily. According to the Associated Press, “A judge said Tuesday that a final report produced by a special grand jury tasked with investigating whether then-President Donald Trump and his allies broke the law as they tried to overturn his 2020 election defeat in Georgia will remain under wraps for now. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney said he was considering whether to release the report after hearing arguments from prosecutors, who urged it be kept secret until they decide whether to file any charges, and a coalition of media organizations, which pressed for its release.” [Associated Press, 1/25/23]
March 2023: Charges Were Expected In Early March, Or Later. According to the New York Times, “Regular grand jury terms last two months. Defendants who are indicted can request speedy trials that begin by the close of the term that follows the two-month period in which they are indicted. Because of those protocols, most charges would most likely be brought at the beginning of the next grand jury term in early March, or further down the road.” [New York Times, 1/9/23]
April 25, 2022: Judge Engoron Held Trump In Contempt Of Court For Failing To Turn Over Records In New York Civil Probe Into His Business Practices. According to the Washington Post, “Donald Trump was held in contempt of court on Monday for failing to turn over records being sought as part of a civil probe into his business practices — a striking public admonishment of the former president, who remains dominant in the Republican Party and has signaled he will again seek the White House in 2024. Lawyers from the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) did not seek to jail Trump, but asked New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron to penalize him financially for failing to comply with an order to produce the documents by March 31. Engoron agreed to fine Trump $10,000 for each day the failure to comply continues.” [Washington Post, 4/25/22]
September 21, 2022: The New York Attorney General James Filed A Civil Lawsuit Against Trump, Three Of His Children, And His Business Empire For Fraud. According to Politico, “New York Attorney General Letitia James has filed suit against former President Donald Trump, three of his adult children and his business empire, accusing them of large-scale fraudulent financial practices and seeking to bar them from real estate transactions for the next five years. The attorney general’s civil suit alleges more than a decade of deception, including billions of dollars in falsified net worth, as part of an effort by Trump to minimize his companies’ tax bills while winning favorable terms from banks and insurance companies.” [Politico, 9/23/22]
The Suit Sought $250 Million In Damages, A Five-Year Ban On Participating In Real Estate Transactions, And A Permanent Ban On Serving On The Board Of Any New York Business. According to Politico, “It seeks about $250 million in allegedly illegal profits netted from the scheme, as well as a five-year ban on the former president, Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump and Eric Trump participating in any real estate transactions–a restriction that would spell the end of the Trump real estate empire. In addition, it seeks a permanent ban on the former president and his family members involved in his business enterprises from serving as directors or officers of any New York corporation or business licensed in the state.” [Politico, 9/23/22]
Attorney General James Also Made Criminal Referrals To The IRS And Federal Prosecutors In Manhattan. According to Politico, “James’ suit relies on a special statute for repeat instances of alleged violations of the law, stemming from real estate transactions. She is also filing a criminal referral to federal prosecutors in Manhattan and a separate tax fraud referral to the IRS for the same underlying allegations.” [Politico, 9/23/22]
September 21, 2022: Trump Organization II Was Registered The Same Day The Lawsuit Was Filed. According to Business Insider, “With his business empire, the Trump Organization, in civil and criminal jeopardy in New York, Donald Trump has come up with an apparent solution that has angered state officials: He has formed the Trump Organization II. The new company was registered with the New York Department of State on September 21, public records show — the very day that the state attorney general, Letitia James, filed a 220-page fraud lawsuit against Trump, his family, and the original Trump Organization, the umbrella company for the former president's real-estate and golf-resort holdings.” [Business Insider, 10/13/22]
November 2, 2022: Trump Sued James In Florida State Court. According to The Guardian, “Donald Trump has sued the attorney general of New York state, Letitia James, over what he claims is a ‘relentless, pernicious, public, and unapologetic crusade’ against him, in the shape of her recent civil lawsuit against the former president and three of his adult children, Donald Jr, Ivanka and Eric. Filed on Wednesday in a circuit court in Florida, the lawsuit says James’s suit, which she announced in a dramatic press conference in September, will cause ‘great harm’ to the company, brand and reputation of the thrice-married, oft-sued, twice-impeached and extensively legally imperiled former president.” [The Guardian, 11/3/22]
November 3, 2022: Judge Granted New York Attorney General’s Request To Place An Independent Monitor Over The Trump Organization. According to Politico, “A judge Thursday granted the New York attorney general’s request that former President Donald Trump’s business empire be overseen by an independent monitor. New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron issued an order after a daylong hearing, requiring that the Trump Organization’s dealings with banks and sale of major assets be subject to supervision by a third-party expert to be named by the court. One provision in the order requires 14-days notice to the court before Trump can dispose of any ‘non-cash asset’ listed in a financial statement his firm prepared last year.” [Politico, 11/3/22]
November 17, 2022: Trump’s Lawsuit Against James Moved To Federal Court. According to Newsweek, “Former President Donald Trump has been dealt another tough hand that could mar his chances of winning a lawsuit against one of his biggest rivals, New York Attorney General Letitia James. Two weeks ago, Trump's attorneys filed suit in Florida state court, seeking to block James' own civil case in New York against the former president and the Trump Organization. But this week, the case was moved to Florida's federal courts at James' request and the suit fell before Judge Donald Middlebrooks—a Clinton-appointed judge who just fined Trump's lawyers in a different suit days ago.” [Newsweek, 11/17/22]
November 9, 2022: A New York Appellate Court Rejected Trump’s Request To Stay Ruling Requiring An Independent Monitor To Oversee The Trump Organization, But Would Reconsider The Request At A Later Date. According to ABC News, “A New York appellate court has declined, at least for now, to stay a judge's order appointing an independent monitor to oversee former President Donald Trump's family real estate firm. Trump and the New York Attorney General's office were supposed to begin submitting candidates for the monitor job this week. The decision, issued Wednesday, said the Appellate Division's First Department would reconsider the matter at a later time.” [ABC News, 11/9/22]
November 14, 2022: Court Named Retired Judge Jones As Independent Monitor. According to CNBC, “A New York court Monday appointed retired Judge Barbara Jones to oversee some of the Trump Organization’s financial statements as part of a lawsuit alleging widespread fraud by former President Donald Trump, his businesses and his family members. Both Trump and New York Attorney General Letitia James, who filed the sweeping fraud suit in September, had recommended Jones as their top pick to serve as independent monitor in the case.” [CNBC, 11/14/22]
December 21, 2022: Federal Judge Rejected Trump’s Attempt To Block The New York Attorney General From Seeking Materials From Trump’s Trust. According to CNN, “A federal judge in Florida on Wednesday denied former President Donald Trump’s request to block the New York attorney general’s office from seeking materials from his private trust. Judge Donald Middlebrooks ruled that the attorney general’s office ‘raises four reasons – all of which are likely correct – why Plaintiff has no substantial likelihood of success on the merits.’ Among them, the judge said it is not obvious that Florida’s trust laws were ‘intended to reach government officials lawfully bringing enforcement actions for alleged fraud.’” [CNN, 12/21/22]
January 6, 2023: Trump’s Motion To Throw Out Civil Suit Against Him From New York’s Attorney General Was Denied By A New York Judge. According to the New York Times, “A New York judge declined on Friday to throw out the state attorney general’s civil fraud case against former President Donald J. Trump, increasing the likelihood that he will face a trial this fall. In a sharply worded order, the judge, Justice Arthur F. Engoron of State Supreme Court in Manhattan, denied Mr. Trump’s motion to dismiss the case, granting the attorney general, Letitia James, another victory in the matter. In September, Ms. James filed a lawsuit accusing Mr. Trump, three of his adult children and their family business of overvaluing his assets by billions of dollars. In his written order, Justice Engoron said that some of the arguments repeatedly made by Mr. Trump’s lawyers were ‘frivolous,’ and had been ‘borderline frivolous even the first time defendants made them.’” [New York Times, 1/6/23]
January 20, 2023: Trump Withdrew His Florida Lawsuit Against New York Attorney General James. According to the Daily Beast, “On Friday, Trump withdrew his mind-boggling lawsuit in Florida against New York Attorney General Letitia James, a ploy that was widely regarded by legal scholars as a bald-faced delay tactic. The filing, made in Palm Beach County court, was curt—it merely stated that Trump ‘hereby voluntarily dismisses his claims in this action.’ There was no explanation given.” [Daily Beast, 1/20/23]
January 24, 2023: Trump Withdrew A Second Lawsuit Challenging The New York Attorney General’s Investigation Into The Trump Organization. According to CNN, “Former President Donald Trump has withdrawn a second lawsuit challenging the New York attorney general’s investigation into the Trump Organization, days after dropping a case attempting to block access to his personal trust. In a one-page filing, lawyers for Trump and Attorney General Letitia James said they reached an agreement to dismiss the appeal with prejudice, meaning it could not be revived in the future.” [CNN, 1/24/23]
January 25, 2023: Trump Appealed $110,000 Penalty He Was Ordered To Pay For Being In Contempt Of Court For Not Properly Responding To A Subpoena. According to Bloomberg, “A New York state appeals court is weighing former President Donald Trump’s bid to reverse a $110,000 penalty he was ordered to pay last year for being in contempt of court during the state’s probe of his business. A panel of judges in Manhattan on Wednesday began considering written arguments submitted by Trump and New York Attorney General Letitia James, who issued the subpoena that the former president allegedly flouted. Trump argues the penalty is ‘excessive and unjustified.’ Trump was held in contempt in April and fined $10,000 a day by a judge who concluded Trump hadn’t properly responded to a demand for any corporate documents in his personal possession. Trump had said there were no such documents, but the judge ruled he failed to explain the details of his search or provide a sworn affidavit on the result.” [Bloomberg, 1/26/23]
January 26, 2023: Trump Argued In Court Filing That The Trump Organization Can Not Be Sued Because It Does Not Legally Exist, But Rather Is A Branding Shorthand. According to Business Insider, “Donald Trump, his real-estate company and his three eldest children have filed an extraordinary, nose-thumbing response to the $250 million fraud lawsuit filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James in September, stating that ‘Trump Organization’ is branding shorthand — not a legal entity — so it can't be sued. ‘To the extent a response is required, Defendant specifically denies the definitions of ‘Trump Organization’ and ‘Defendants,’ reads Donald Trump's response to the lawsuit, one of 16 answers filed late Thursday night. ‘While the shorthand ‘Trump Organization’ is utilized by Defendants for branding and business purposes, no entity as such exists for legal purposes,’ Donald Trump's response continues, using language that is repeated throughout his 300-page filing and throughout the similarly-lengthy 15 filings of his fellow defendants.” [Business Insider, 1/27/23]
October 2, 2023: Trial Date Set. According to the Wall Street Journal, “A New York judge Tuesday scheduled an October 2023 trial in the state attorney general’s civil-fraud case against Donald Trump, his company and three of his adult children, setting up proceedings that would unfold against the backdrop of another Trump run for the White House. State Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron scheduled the trial for Oct. 2, 2023, in state court in Manhattan. Alina Habba, a lawyer for the former president and the Trump Organization, told the judge, ‘My clients, they will be here, all of them.’” [Wall Street Journal, 11/22/22]
March 31, 2021: Two Capitol Police Officers Sued Trump For Inciting The January 6th Attack On The Capitol. According to NPR, “Two U.S. Capitol police officers are suing former President Donald Trump, for allegedly inciting the riots that took over the Capitol building Jan. 6. Officers James Blassingame and Sidney Hemby argue in court documents reviewed by NPR that Trump is responsible for the physical and emotional injuries the officers received following the violent riots at the Capitol. The insurrection resulted in the death of five people. The lawsuit details the violence Blassingame and Hemby faced during the Jan. 6 attack, as well as the physical and emotional toll they continue to deal with. Lawyers for the officers argue Trump's repeated false claims over several months that the 2020 presidential election could be stolen or was eventually ‘rigged’ motivated the eventual insurrectionists. Trump ‘inflamed, encouraged, incited, directed, and aided and abetted’ the ‘insurrectionist mob’ to force its way into the Capitol building to stop the certification of the election on Jan. 6. The mob ‘forced its way over and past the plaintiffs and their fellow officers, pursuing and attacking them inside and outside the United States Capitol, and causing the injuries.’” [NPR, 3/31/21]
February 18, 2022: Federal Judge Rejected Trump’s Claim Of Absolute Immunity And Said Lawsuit Against Trump Could Continue. According to the Washington Post, “A federal judge on Friday sweepingly rejected former president Donald Trump’s claim of ‘absolute immunity’ from lawsuits accusing him of inciting the violent Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, finding that there was evidence to plausibly suggest that he engaged in a conspiracy with organized groups to intimidate Congress into overturning the results of the 2020 election. In a searing, 112-page opinion that quoted repeatedly and at length from the former president’s own public statements, U.S. District Judge Amit P. Mehta refused to dismiss three lawsuits against Trump by Democratic House members and police officers seeking damages for physical and emotional injuries they incurred in the assault. The judge did or said he would drop as defendants Donald Trump Jr., attorney Rudolph W. Giuliani and Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.), who joined Trump in addressing rallygoers at the Ellipse before they marched to the Capitol that day. However, Mehta said Trump’s own words and conduct in falsely alleging a “stolen” election were not immune on separation-of-powers grounds because they served only his personal aim of retaining office, falling beyond the ‘outer perimeter’ of a president’s official responsibilities. ‘The President’s actions here do not relate to his duties of faithfully executing the laws, conducting foreign affairs, commanding the armed forces, or managing the Executive Branch. They entirely concern his efforts to remain in office for a second term. These are unofficial acts,’ Mehta wrote.” [Washington Post, 2/18/22]
December 7, 2022: The D.C. Circuit Court Of Appeals Heard Arguments On Whether Trump Couple Be Held Liable For Damages Caused By The January 6th Attack On The Capitol. According to the Washington Post, “A federal appeals court on Wednesday debated whether Donald Trump can be forced to pay damages for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol to lawmakers and police officers injured by the mob.” [Washington Post, 12/7/22]
January 5, 2023: The Estate Of Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, Who Died The Day After Defending The Capitol During The January 6th Attack, Filed A Wrongful Death Suit Against Trump. According to the Wall Street Journal, “The estate of Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who died a day after defending the Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack, sued Donald Trump on Thursday alleging that the officer’s death resulted from the former president’s ‘incendiary’ rhetoric and false claims that the 2020 election was stolen. In a 47-page lawsuit, lawyers for Mr. Sicknick’s estate said Mr. Trump ‘intentionally riled up the crowd and directed and encouraged a mob to attack the U.S. Capitol and attack those who opposed him.’ The lawsuit cited Mr. Trump’s speech at the Ellipse earlier that day, in which he urged a crowd of supporters to ‘fight like hell’ and march to the Capitol. ‘As a direct and foreseeable consequence of Defendant Trump’s false and incendiary allegations of fraud and theft, and in direct response to Defendant Trump’s express calls for violence at the rally, a violent mob attacked the U.S. Capitol,’ the lawsuit said.” [Wall Street Journal, 1/5/23]
Judge Mehta Was Assigned The Case. According to Kyle Cheney of Politico, “The lawsut filed by Brian SICKNICK's partner, Sandra Garza, has been assigned to Judge MEHTA and linked to a series of other lawsuits that are pending currently at the Appeals Court.” [Twitter - @kylecheney, 1/6/23]
March 24, 2022: Trump Sued Hillary Clinton, The Democratic National Committee, And Others For An Alleged Conspiracy Over Russian Collusion With Trump In The 2016 Campaign. According to NPR, “Former President Donald Trump has filed a sweeping RICO lawsuit against Hillary Clinton, the Democratic National Committee and others, alleging that they ‘maliciously conspired to weave a false narrative that [Trump] was colluding with a hostile foreign sovereignty [Russia]’ to try and rig the 2016 election. ‘The Defendants, blinded by political ambition, orchestrated a malicious conspiracy to disseminate patently false and injurious information about Donald J. Trump and his campaign, all in the hopes of destroying his life, his political career and rigging the 2016 Election in favor of Hillary Clinton,’ Trump's lawyers say in a 108-page lawsuit filed in Florida. ‘When their gambit failed, and Donald J. Trump was elected, the Defendants' efforts continued unabated, merely shifting their focus to undermining his presidential administration.’ The lawsuit, which contains debunked claims, seeks a jury trial and compensatory damages. It says Trump, as a result of defendants' actions, has sustained losses of at least $24 million ‘and continuing to accrue, as well as the loss of existing and future business opportunities.’” [NPR, 3/24/22]
September 9, 2022: Federal Judge Dismissed Trump’s Suit, Calling It “Unsupported By Any Legal Authority.” According to CNN, “A federal judge has dismissed former President Donald Trump’s lawsuit against Hillary Clinton, the Democratic National Committee, several ex-FBI officials and more than two dozen other people and entities that he claims conspired to undermine his 2016 campaign by trying to vilify him with fabricated information tying him to Russia. US District Judge Donald Middlebrooks dismissed the lawsuit Thursday, saying ‘most of Plaintiff’s claims are not only unsupported by any legal authority but plainly foreclosed by binding precedent.’ ‘What (Trump’s lawsuit) lacks in substance and legal support it seeks to substitute with length, hyperbole, and the settling of scores and grievances,’ Middlebrooks, a Bill Clinton appointee, wrote.” [CNN, 9/9/22]
October 31, 2022: Clinton Requested Trump Pay Her Legal Fees And Impose Sanctions. According to The Hill, “Former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton is asking a federal court to order former President Trump to pay her legal fees over a suit he filed alleging she and others engaged in a conspiracy to undermine his 2016 campaign with accusations of Russian collusion. In a motion filed on Monday, Clinton’s attorneys cast Trump’s suit — which was dismissed by a federal trial court in September, a move the former president has appealed — as a ‘political stunt’ and argued it met the threshold for the court to impose sanctions. ‘A reasonable attorney would never have filed this suit, let alone continued to prosecute it after multiple Defendants’ motions to dismiss highlighted its fundamental and incurable defects,’ Clinton’s attorneys wrote.” [The Hill, 10/31/22]
November 10, 2022: Trump’s Lawyers Sanctioned $50,000 Plus The Legal Fees For One Of The Defense Attorneys. According to CNBC, “A federal judge Thursday sanctioned attorneys for former President Donald Trump to pay $50,000 as penalty for advancing a ‘frivolous’ lawsuit against a raft of Trump’s political enemies, including Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Committee. Judge Donald Middlebrooks’ scathing order in Florida federal court suggested Trump’s lawyers had undermined the rule of law by pushing a political narrative in court ‘without factual basis or any cognizable legal theory.’ ‘Additional sanctions may be appropriate,’ the judge noted, after suggesting the lawyers’ behavior may require the ‘attention of the Bar and disciplinary authorities.’ The sanctions — which also require Trump’s lawyers to compensate a defense attorney’s legal fees — came two months after Middlebrooks had tossed out the suit, describing it as a ‘two-hundred-page political manifesto.’” [CNBC, 11/10/22]
January 19, 2023: Judge Middlebrooks Ordered Trump And His Attorney Habba To Pay Nearly $1 Million In Sanctions For Filing A Frivolous Lawsuit Against Nearly Three Dozen Entities. According to the New York Times, “In a scathing ruling, a federal judge in Florida on Thursday ordered Donald J. Trump and one of his lawyers together to pay nearly a million dollars in sanctions for filing a frivolous lawsuit against nearly three dozen of Mr. Trump’s perceived political enemies, including Hillary Clinton and the former F.B.I. director James B. Comey. The ruling was a significant rebuke of Mr. Trump, who has rarely faced such consequences in his long history of using the courts as a weapon against business rivals and partners, as well as former employees and reporters. […] The judge said Mr. Trump and the lawyer who filed the case for him, Alina Habba, and her firm, Habba Madaio & Associates, were to pay $937,989.39.” [New York Times, 1/19/23]
July 7, 2021: Trump Sued Twitter, Facebook, And YouTube In Florida Court. According to the Associated Press, “Former President Donald Trump has filed suit against three of the country’s biggest tech companies, claiming he and other conservatives have been wrongfully censored. But legal experts say the suits are likely doomed to fail, given existing precedent and legal protections. Trump announced the action against Facebook, Twitter and Google’s YouTube, along with the companies’ Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Dorsey and Sundar Pichai, at a press conference Wednesday in New Jersey, where he demanded that his accounts be reinstated. Trump has been suspended from the platforms since January, when his followers violently stormed the Capitol building, trying to block Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s presidential win. The companies cited concerns that Trump would incite further violence and have kept him locked out. All three declined comment Wednesday.” [Associated Press, 7/7/21]
October 27, 2021: Judge Ruled Trump’s Suit Must Be Held In California Due To The Forum Selection Clause. According to the Associated Press, “Former President Donald Trump’s lawsuit to get his Twitter account restored must be heard in a California court, not a Florida one, under a user agreement covering everyone on the social media platform, a federal judge ruled. U.S. District Judge Robert Scola in Miami rejected Trump’s contention that because his Twitter account was suspended during his last days as president the California court requirement did not apply to him. The requirement, known as a forum selection clause, was in force when Trump originally joined Twitter as a private citizen in 2009, Scola wrote in his order issued Wednesday. ‘First, Trump’s former status as the president of the United States does not preclude the application of the forum selection clause. Second, the forum selection clause is valid and mandatory,’ Scola wrote in a 13-page order.” [Associated Press, 10/27/21]
May 6, 2022: Federal Judge Dismissed Trump’s Suit. According to the Washington Post, “A California judge on Friday dismissed a lawsuit that Donald Trump filed against Twitter, the latest blow to the former president’s high-profile battles with major tech companies over their decisions to suspend his accounts in the fallout of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. The lawsuit, which Trump initially filed last year in Florida along with suits targeting Google and Facebook, was viewed as part of a broader strategy to appeal to conservatives who have long argued that social media companies unfairly censor their viewpoints. The judge’s dismissal comes after Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk announced his plans to buy Twitter, taking issue over content moderation decisions he views as limiting free speech — and raising speculation that Trump could return to the platform. In the ruling, U.S. District Judge James Donato rejected Trump’s argument that Twitter was operating as a ‘state actor’ when it suspended his account in January 2021, calling it not plausible. Trump had claimed that Twitter was constrained by the First Amendment’s restrictions on government limitations of free speech because it had acted in cooperation with government officials.” [Washington Post, 5/6/22]
November 14, 2022: Trump Appealed Decision To The 9th Circuit. According to Reuters, “Former U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday asked a U.S. appeals court to revive his lawsuit against Twitter Inc challenging his permanent suspension from the platform after his supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Lawyers for Trump, a Republican, told the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in a filing that the ban from Twitter marked ‘overtly partisan censorship’ and was ‘contrary to First Amendment principles deeply rooted in American history and law.’ His lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages and a court order requiring Twitter to ‘immediately reinstate’ his account that was permanently suspended on Jan. 8, 2021.” [Reuters, 11/14/22]
October 29, 2018: A Class Action Suit Was Filed Against Trump For Fraud For Advertising On Behalf Of ACN. According to CNN, “President Donald Trump, his three eldest children and his company are accused in a class action lawsuit filed Monday in Manhattan federal court of using their brand to make millions by coaxing unsophisticated investors to participate in fraudulent schemes. Filed on behalf of four anonymous individuals, the lawsuit accuses the President and his children Eric, Donald Jr. and Ivanka Trump of promoting what they described as promising business opportunities with three companies in exchange for ‘secret’ payments: ACN Opportunity, a telecommunications marketing company; the Trump Network, a vitamin and health product marketing company; and the Trump Institute, a seminar program that ‘purported to sell Trump’s ‘secrets to success.’’ The suit claims that the Trumps in fact ‘deliberately misled’ consumers about the likely success of their investments. The 160-page lawsuit further claims the Trumps engaged in ‘a pattern of racketeering activity’ and ‘were aware that the vast majority of consumers would lose whatever money they invested in the business opportunities and training programs’ offered by the three companies. None of the three companies is named as a defendant.” [CNN, 10/29/18]
July 24, 2019: Federal Judge Ruled Lawsuit Against Trump And His Children For Promoting Sham Marketing Opportunities Could Proceed. According to Reuters, “A federal judge on Wednesday said U.S. President Donald Trump and his adult children must face part of a lawsuit alleging they used their family name to promote sham marketing opportunities, but dismissed racketeering claims at the center of the case. U.S. District Judge Lorna Schofield in Manhattan said the plaintiffs, including investors in a Trump-endorsed business called American Communications Network, could pursue state law-based claims of fraud, false advertising and unfair competition.” [Reuters, 7/24/19]
October, 2022: Trump Was Deposed In Lawsuit Concerning Failed Videophone Business. According to Bloomberg, “Lawyers for investors who claim they were defrauded by Donald Trump more than a decade ago finally got a chance to depose the former president about his marketing of a failed videophone venture on ‘Celebrity Apprentice,’ according to a person familiar with the matter. A New York judge had ordered Trump to sit for questions in the videophone case by Oct. 31, after a planned testimony date was derailed by Hurricane Ian and triggered a fierce war of words between lawyers for plaintiffs and Trump. The deposition, which occurred earlier this month, hadn’t been reported. It’s one of several depositions Trump has had to sit for recently. He was deposed in a separate case Wednesday for a defamation suit brought by New York author E. Jean Carroll. She alleges he raped her in a department store dressing room two decades ago and defamed her when he denied it. Trump, his company and his three oldest children were sued in 2018 by four investors who claim they were duped by Trump’s promotions into paying thousands of dollars to become independent sellers with ACN Opportunity LLC, which sold a doomed videophone device that the future US president touted as the next big thing. The clunky devices were made obsolete by smartphones.” [Bloomberg, 10/20/22]
January 29, 2024: Trial Date Set. According to Law & Crime, “Roughly six years after its initial filing, a federal lawsuit accusing Donald Trump and his family of promoting a pyramid scheme will finally go to trial — right at the start of a presidential election year. U.S. District Judge Lorna G. Schofield formally set a trial date in the case for Jan. 29, 2024, a date earlier than the former president had hoped for but later than his challengers would have wanted.” [Law & Crime, 12/14/22]
November 4, 2019: E. Jean Carroll Sued Trump For Defamation Over His Denial Of Her Accusation That Trump Sexually Assaulted Her In The 1990s. According to UPI, “Advice columnist E. Jean Carroll sued President Donald Trump for defamation, stating his denials of her accusation that he sexually assaulted her more than 20 years ago damaged her reputation. Carroll filed the suit in the New York Supreme Court on Monday alleging Trump made ‘express statements and deliberate implications’ that accused her of lying about the rape in order to increase sales of her memoir -- where she first publicly described the assault -- as well as to carry out a political agenda by advancing a conspiracy with the Democratic Party. She added that Trump's statements ‘inflicted emotional pain and suffering, they damaged her reputation and they caused substantial professional harm.’ ‘Trump knew that these statements were false; at bare minimum he acted with reckless disregard for their truth or falsity,’ the complaint stated. Carroll is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages in the defamation lawsuit.’” [UPI, 11/4/19]
September 27, 2022: Federal Appeals Court Moved Case To D.C. Court To Determine If Trump Was Acting In His Capacity As President When He Made His Statements About Carroll, Which If So Would End The Case. According to the New York Times, “A District of Columbia court will have to determine whether Donald J. Trump was acting in his official capacity as president when he scoffed at the accusations of a woman who said he raped her decades ago, a federal appeals court in New York ruled on Tuesday. The future of the case, involving the writer E. Jean Carroll, depends on the decision. If the court in Washington rules that Mr. Trump was acting in his role as a federal employee — and the United States becomes the defendant, instead of Mr. Trump — Ms. Carroll’s suit cannot proceed, because the federal government cannot be sued for defamation. The 2-to-1 ruling by a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York stems from a lawsuit in which Ms. Carroll said Mr. Trump damaged her reputation when he denied attacking her in a department store dressing room in the 1990s and branded her a liar.” [New York Times, 9/27/22]
October 19, 2022: Trump Was Deposed. According to the New York Times, “Three years after the writer E. Jean Carroll sued Donald J. Trump for defamation in New York, the former president submitted to a sworn deposition on Oct. 19 at Mar-a-Lago, his residence and private club in Florida.” [New York Times, 10/19/22]
November 24, 2022: Carroll Sued Trump For Battery And Defamation In New York Court. According to CNN, “Ex-magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll sued former President Donald Trump for battery and defamation under a new New York law that allows adults alleging sexual assault to bring claims years after the attack. Carroll filed the lawsuit Thursday, the first day that civil lawsuits can be brought under the new law, the Adult Survivors Act, which gives adults a one-year window to file a claim. The lawsuit is the second Carroll has brought against Trump, but the first to seek to hold him accountable for battery for allegedly raping Carroll in the dressing room of a New York department store in the mid-1990s. The lawsuit also alleges a new defamation claim based on statements Trump made last month.” [CNN, 11/24/22]
December 22, 2022: Trump’s Attorneys Argued In Court Filing That Carroll’s Lawsuit Should Be Thrown Out Because New York’s Adult Survivors Act Is Unconstitutional. According to Business Insider, “Former President Donald Trump's attorney argued in a court filing Wednesday that E. Jean Carroll's most recent lawsuit against Trump should be thrown out on the grounds that a New York law allowing her and many others to sue over sexual assault is unconstitutional, and that Trump saying she lied about the alleged rape didn't defame her because it didn't call her professionalism into question. Trump's main argument was that the New York Adult Survivors Act — which temporarily allows people fo [sic] file sexual assault lawsuits in cases where the statute of limitations has expired — unconstitutionally deprives defendants of due process and arbitrarily allows years- or decades-old allegations to be revived. ‘Notwithstanding the sympathies at play, the Adult Survivors Act is a contravention of the New York State Constitution, an invasion of due process, and a clear abuse of legislative power,’ the filing said.” [Business Insider, 12/22/22]
January 10, 2023: D.C. Court Of Appeals Heard Arguments On Whether Trump Acted Within His Job As President When Denying E Jean Carroll’s Allegations That Trump Sexually Assaulted Her, Determining Whether Carroll’s Defamation Lawsuit Can Move Forward. According to the Washington Post, “The D.C. Court of Appeals on Tuesday heard arguments centering on whether Donald Trump was acting within his job as president when he denied a writer’s allegations that he sexually assaulted her in the mid-1990s — a legal question that is key to whether the writer’s defamation lawsuit against Trump can move forward. Lawyers for the New York-based writer E. Jean Carroll argued that Trump acted as a private citizen when he denied raping Carroll, and therefore can be sued like anyone else. Trump’s lawyers and an attorney for the Justice Department countered that his responses were made as part of his job as president — which would effectively end Carroll’s case against him because of protection government employees have from defamation suits. During a 2½-hour hearing, the judges pressed both sides on the boundaries of Trump’s job responsibilities, and some expressed frustration that they had limited information on which to make a decision.” [Washington Post, 1/10/23]
January 13, 2023: Judge Kaplan Rejected Trump’s Effort To Dismiss Carroll’s Lawsuit. According to Bloomberg, “Former President Donald Trump must face a sexual-assault suit filed by a New York author who alleges he raped her in the 1990s, a judge ruled. Trump’s motion to dismiss the suit by former Elle magazine advice columnist E. Jean Carroll was denied Friday by US District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan, allowing the case to move toward a possible trial later this year.” [Bloomberg, 1/13/23]
January 13, 2023: Judge Kaplan Ruled That Portions Of Trump’s Deposition Would Be Publically Released Over Objections Of Trump. According to the Washington Post, “Some portions of Carroll’s deposition in the defamation lawsuit were already part of the public docket. Portions of Trump’s deposition were ordered released in a separate decision Friday by Judge Kaplan, who is not related to Carroll’s attorney. That decision followed a bid by Trump’s attorneys to keep the previously redacted section sealed.” [Washington Post, 1/13/23]
February 6, 2023: Original Trial Date. According to CNBC, “The trial for a writer’s lawsuit claiming she was defamed by former President Donald Trump when he denied raping her is set to begin Feb. 6 in federal court in New York, a judge ordered Tuesday.” [CNBC, 7/19/22]
April 10, 2023: Proposed Date By Carroll For Combined Trial. According to Business Insider, “In a previous filing, Carroll's lawyers asked that the cases be tried together, and that the trial date be pushed from February 6 to April 10, 2023.” [Business Insider, 11/24/22]
October 3, 2022: Trump Sued CNN For $475 Million For Defamation Because Of Their Use Of The Term “Big Lie” Regarding Trump’s Claim Of Election Fraud In 2020. According to PBS, “Former President Donald Trump on Monday sued CNN, seeking $475 million in damages, saying the network had defamed him in an effort to short-circuit any future political campaign. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, focuses primarily on the term ‘The Big Lie’ about Trump’s false claims of widespread fraud that he says cost him the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden. There was no immediate comment from CNN. Trump repeatedly attacked CNN as president, which resonated with his conservative followers. He has similarly filed lawsuits against big tech companies with little success. His case against Twitter for knocking him off its platform following the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol insurrection was thrown out by a California judge earlier this year.” [PBS, 10/3/22]
December 13, 2022: Trump Filed A Lawsuit Against The Pulitzer Prize Board For Defamation For Awarding Prizes To “Now-Debunked” Reporting On Trump’s Ties To Russia. According to Fox News, “Former President Trump filed a defamation lawsuit on Tuesday against the Pulitzer Prize Board over the 2018 National Reporting prizes given to The New York Times and Washington Post for coverage of ‘now-debunked theory’ of alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Trump’s suit, filed Tuesday in Okeechobee County, Florida, was obtained by Fox News Digital. It states that a ‘demonstrably false connection was and remains the stated basis’ for the coverage that received the prestigious award.” [Fox News, 12/13/22]
November 2017: Jessica Denson Sued The 2016 Trump Campaign For Harassment And Defamation. According to Bloomberg, “Denson sued in state court in November 2017 seeking $25 million in damages for the alleged harassment and defamation. The Trump campaign then made a $1.5 million arbitration claim, saying Denson had breached the confidentiality and non-disparagement obligations of the NDA.” [Bloomberg, 7/23/19]
Trump Claimed That Denson Violated A Nondisclosure Agreement And Sought $1.5 Million In Damages. According to Bloomberg, “Denson sued in state court in November 2017 seeking $25 million in damages for the alleged harassment and defamation. The Trump campaign then made a $1.5 million arbitration claim, saying Denson had breached the confidentiality and non-disparagement obligations of the NDA.” [Bloomberg, 7/23/19]
March 26, 2018: Denton Sued To Void Nondisclosure Agreement. According to NBC News, “A Los Angeles woman who worked for President Donald Trump’s campaign has filed a federal lawsuit in Manhattan to void a confidentiality agreement she signed, claiming the agreement has been ‘weaponized’ to silence her allegations of discrimination. Jessica Denson, a journalist and actress, said in court documents filed on March 26 that she was consistently disparaged and sexually and verbally harassed by her supervisor while working for the campaign as a phone bank administrator and later as the Hispanic outreach coordinator.” [NBC News, 4/2/18]
July 23, 2019: Trump 2016 Campaign Awarded $52,230 For Breach Of Nondisclosure Agreement. According to Bloomberg, “Donald Trump’s presidential campaign was awarded $52,230 in a dispute with a former campaign staffer over her breach of a non-disclosure agreement. Jessica Denson, a Los Angeles-based actress who worked on Trump’s campaign in August 2016, sued in federal court to void her NDA in order to pursue a separate state lawsuit in which she claims she was harassed and defamed by her superiors.” [Bloomberg, 7/23/19]
February 6, 2020: New York Appeals Court Overturned Award. According to Bloomberg, “Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign lost a court battle with a former staffer who allegedly violated a non-disclosure agreement by going public with claims she was harassed and defamed by her superiors. A New York appeals court on Thursday overturned an almost $50,000 arbitration award against the former worker, Jessica Denson, for breaching the NDA’s confidentiality and non-disparagement provisions by making her allegations in a lawsuit. Denson, a Los Angeles-based actress who worked on Trump’s campaign in August 2016, argued there was no way for her to challenge the validity of the broadly worded NDA without disclosing some factual allegations about the campaign. The court agreed.” [Bloomberg, 2/6/20]
March 30, 2021: Judge Gardephe Nullified The Nondisclosure Agreement. According to the New York Times, “An effort by former President Donald J. Trump’s campaign to silence a former campaign worker who claimed she was the target of abusive treatment and sexual harassment by another member of Mr. Trump’s campaign was effectively voided on Tuesday by a federal court judge in New York. Judge Paul G. Gardephe nullified a confidentiality agreement signed in 2016 by Jessica Denson, who had worked on Mr. Trump’s campaign that year as a phone bank supervisor and Hispanic outreach coordinator. Judge Gardephe concluded the agreement was ‘invalid and unenforceable.’” [New York Times, 3/30/21]
January 24, 2023: Former Trump Campaign Chief Executive Bannon Ordered To Testify. According to Bloomberg, “Donald Trump adviser Steve Bannon was ordered to testify under oath in a long-running sex-discrimination lawsuit against the former president’s 2016 campaign by a former staffer, who claims she was harassed by a male colleague who got angry when she was promoted.” [Bloomberg, 1/25/23]
February 24, 2023: Bannon Must Respond To A Subpoena For Documents. According to Bloomberg, “Bannon, who advised Trump during the campaign and in the White House, must respond to a subpoena for documents by Feb. 24 and sit for a virtual deposition by March 31 in the suit brought by Jessica Denson, a Los Angeles-based actor who worked on the campaign, a District of Columbia Superior Court judge ruled this week.” [Bloomberg, 1/25/23]
March 31, 2023: Bannon Must Sit For A Deposition. According to Bloomberg, “Bannon, who advised Trump during the campaign and in the White House, must respond to a subpoena for documents by Feb. 24 and sit for a virtual deposition by March 31 in the suit brought by Jessica Denson, a Los Angeles-based actor who worked on the campaign, a District of Columbia Superior Court judge ruled this week.” [Bloomberg, 1/25/23]