The Trump investigation cases span federal and state courts, criminal and civil dockets, and roughly a decade of legal activity. One produced a felony conviction. Several produced civil judgments in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Two federal prosecutions were dismissed after Trump won the 2024 election. A state racketeering case in Georgia was dismissed in late 2025. A Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity now shadows nearly every remaining question about what a former or sitting president can be prosecuted for.
Here is where each matter stands.
New York Hush Money Conviction
On May 30, 2024, a Manhattan jury found Trump guilty on all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. The charges stemmed from payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election, made to conceal an alleged sexual encounter and recorded in Trump Organization books as legal expenses. The verdict made Trump the first former U.S. president convicted of a felony.1NY1. Trump Hush Money Case Sentencing
Ten days before his second inauguration, on January 10, 2025, Judge Juan Merchan sentenced him to an unconditional discharge: no jail, no probation, no fine. Merchan called it the only “lawful sentence” given Trump’s imminent return to the presidency.1NY1. Trump Hush Money Case Sentencing
The conviction is now on appeal. Trump’s lawyers filed a 96-page appellate brief in October 2025 arguing that the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity ruling should have barred certain trial evidence and questioning the trial judge’s impartiality. A separate petition asks a federal appeals court to move the state case to federal court, which could open a route to Supreme Court review. Merchan had already rejected the immunity argument at trial, ruling that the evidence concerned private conduct rather than official acts.2Politico. Donald Trump Appeal Hush Money Conviction
Federal Election Interference Case
A federal grand jury in Washington, D.C. charged Trump on August 1, 2023, with four felony counts tied to efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Special Counsel Jack Smith alleged a conspiracy to subvert the transfer of power that included pressuring state officials, the Justice Department, and Vice President Mike Pence to reject legitimate electoral votes.3U.S. Department of Justice. Report of Special Counsel Smith, Volume 1
The case never reached trial. On July 1, 2024, the Supreme Court ruled in Trump v. United States that former presidents have absolute immunity for acts within their core constitutional authority and at least presumptive immunity for other official conduct, and sent the case back to the trial court to sort official from unofficial acts.4SCOTUSblog. Justices Rule Trump Has Some Immunity From Prosecution
After Trump won in November 2024, Smith moved on November 25, 2024, to dismiss, citing longstanding Justice Department policy that a sitting president cannot be indicted. Judge Tanya Chutkan granted the dismissal without prejudice, so charges could theoretically be refiled after Trump leaves office. Smith said the decision was “not based on the merits or strength of the case against the defendant.”5CNN. Special Counsel Jack Smith Moves to Dismiss Trump Cases
Federal Classified Documents Case
In June 2023, Trump was charged with 37 counts related to the alleged mishandling of classified national security documents at Mar-a-Lago. The indictment accused him of willfully retaining classified records after leaving office and obstructing government efforts to recover them. Aide Walt Nauta and property manager Carlos De Oliveira were charged as co-defendants. All three pleaded not guilty.6BBC News. Judge Dismisses Trump Classified Documents Case
On July 15, 2024, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the entire case in a 93-page opinion. She ruled that Smith’s appointment violated the Appointments Clause because he had not been appointed by the president or confirmed by the Senate for a role exercising significant prosecutorial authority. She cited a concurring opinion by Justice Clarence Thomas questioning the special counsel’s legitimacy.7Politico. Judge Dismisses Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Classified Docs Criminal Case Smith’s office called the ruling a deviation from the “uniform conclusion of all previous courts” that the Attorney General has statutory authority to appoint a special counsel, and appealed.8NPR. Judge Dismisses Trump Classified Docs Case
Smith formally dropped the prosecution against Trump on November 25, 2024, and an appeals court dismissed the case as to Trump the next day.9BBC News. Jack Smith Drops Both Criminal Cases Against Trump In January 2025, the Justice Department withdrew its appeal of Cannon’s dismissal as to Nauta and De Oliveira, ending the matter entirely.10Upper Michigan’s Source. Justice Dept. Abandons Criminal Proceedings Against 2 Trump Co-Defendants
Georgia Election Interference Case
On August 14, 2023, a Fulton County grand jury indicted Trump and 18 co-defendants on state racketeering and election interference charges. District Attorney Fani Willis alleged a coordinated effort to overturn Georgia’s 2020 results, including Trump’s phone call to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger asking him to “find” enough votes to reverse the outcome.11CNN. Trump Indictments and Criminal Cases
The case became bogged down over Willis’s romantic relationship with Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor she hired to lead it. Trial judge Scott McAfee found a “significant appearance of impropriety” but initially allowed Willis to stay on if Wade resigned. On December 19, 2024, the Georgia Court of Appeals reversed that decision 2-1, calling it “the rare case in which disqualification is mandated and no other remedy will suffice to restore public confidence in the integrity of these proceedings.”12Courthouse News Service. Fani Willis Removed From Trump Election Interference Case In September 2025, the Georgia Supreme Court declined to hear her appeal.13CNN. Georgia Prosecutor Drops Trump Election Interference Case
The case passed to Peter Skandalakis, director of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia, after every other prosecutor he approached “politely declined.”14PBS NewsHour. New Prosecutor Takes Georgia Election Interference Case On November 26, 2025, Skandalakis dismissed all charges. He concluded that pursuing a sitting president in state court was “unrealistic,” that immunity litigation would take years, and that a trial was unlikely before 2029. He described the Raffensperger call as “concerning” but not a “smoking gun,” and said the evidence was open to “equally plausible” interpretations.15Georgia Recorder. Fulton County Election Interference Case Against Trump Dismissed
New York Civil Fraud Case
New York Attorney General Letitia James sued Trump, his company, and two of his sons, alleging years of inflating asset values on financial statements used to obtain favorable loan and insurance terms. In February 2024, Judge Arthur Engoron ruled that Trump and the Trump Organization committed fraud and imposed a financial penalty of roughly $355 million, which grew with interest to approximately $464.6 million.16Jurist. New York Appeals Court Tosses $465 Million Award in Trump Civil Fraud Case
On appeal, a five-justice panel of the Appellate Division unanimously struck the monetary award as unconstitutionally excessive under the Eighth Amendment. The panel splintered on the underlying fraud findings: two justices voted to affirm liability, two sought a new trial, and one argued for outright dismissal, with the fraud findings technically affirmed only because no other outcome commanded a majority. Business restrictions and court-appointed monitoring of Trump’s operations remained in place. James announced plans to appeal to New York’s Court of Appeals.17New York Attorney General. Attorney General James Releases Statement on First Department Opinion
E. Jean Carroll Defamation and Sexual Abuse Verdicts
Writer E. Jean Carroll brought two civil suits. In the first, a jury found in 2023 that Trump had sexually abused Carroll in a department store dressing room in the mid-1990s and defamed her in a 2022 social media post, awarding $5 million. In the second, filed in 2019 over earlier defamatory statements, a jury awarded $83.3 million in January 2024.18CNN. Supreme Court E. Jean Carroll Donald Trump Appeal
Both verdicts were upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Trump petitioned the Supreme Court in November 2025 to review the $5 million verdict; as of mid-2026, the Court had rescheduled consideration more than a dozen times without acting. His lawyers signaled a similar petition on the $83.3 million verdict. With interest, Trump reportedly owes Carroll over $100 million.19New York Times. E. Jean Carroll Trump Lawsuits
In 2026, the Justice Department opened a criminal investigation tied to the litigation itself, focused on a nonprofit founded by billionaire Reid Hoffman that funded some of Carroll’s legal costs. The probe examines potential money laundering, obstruction, and conspiracy, as well as the accuracy of Carroll’s deposition testimony about the source of those funds. Hoffman called the allegations “absurdly false.” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, who previously represented Trump in the Carroll appeal, recused himself.20NBC News. DOJ Opens Criminal Probe Into Trump Accuser E. Jean Carroll
Trump Organization Criminal Tax Fraud
Trump himself was not a defendant, but two Trump Organization subsidiaries were. On December 6, 2022, a Manhattan jury convicted the Trump Corporation and the Trump Payroll Corporation on all 17 counts of criminal tax fraud. The scheme, running from 2005 to 2021, concealed executive compensation from tax authorities. Former CFO Allen Weisselberg pleaded guilty to 15 felony counts and testified that he received $1.7 million in off-the-books perks, including a rent-free Manhattan apartment, Mercedes-Benz automobiles, and private school tuition for his grandchildren.21Courthouse News Service. Trump Organization Guilty on All Counts in Criminal Tax Scheme
Weisselberg was sentenced in January 2023 to five months in jail, five years’ probation, and over $2 million in back taxes, penalties, and interest.22Manhattan District Attorney. D.A. Bragg: Allen Weisselberg Sentenced to 5 Months in Jail The companies faced a maximum fine of $1.62 million. Prosecutors alleged Trump had “explicitly sanctioned” the salary reductions that facilitated the scheme, but he was not charged.21Courthouse News Service. Trump Organization Guilty on All Counts in Criminal Tax Scheme
Earlier Investigations That Shaped the Later Cases
Three earlier investigations produced findings about Trump’s conduct without producing charges against him personally, and they seeded much of the evidence later prosecutors and committees drew on.
The Mueller Investigation
Robert Mueller was appointed special counsel in May 2017 to examine Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible links to the Trump campaign. His probe, which ended in March 2019, charged 34 individuals and three companies.23Time. Mueller Investigation Indictments, Guilty Pleas Mueller described Russian interference as “sweeping and systemic,” documented numerous contacts between the campaign and Russian figures without concluding the campaign conspired with Russia, and identified multiple potential acts of obstruction by Trump, including directing White House Counsel Don McGahn to fire Mueller and dangling pardons for witnesses. Citing DOJ policy against indicting a sitting president, Mueller declined a prosecutorial judgment on obstruction, and the report stated it “does not exonerate” Trump.24American Constitution Society. Key Findings of the Mueller Report Trump later pardoned Paul Manafort, Roger Stone, Michael Flynn, and George Papadopoulos.25Reuters. Trump Pardons Former Campaign Chairman Manafort, Associate Roger Stone
Senate Intelligence Committee Report
The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence released a five-volume, nearly 1,000-page bipartisan report in August 2020. It identified Konstantin Kilimnik as a “Russian intelligence officer” and called Paul Manafort a “grave counterintelligence threat” for sharing campaign polling data with Kilimnik. The report found that the campaign “sought to maximize the impact” of WikiLeaks’ release of hacked Democratic emails and concluded that Trump “likely” spoke with Roger Stone about WikiLeaks on multiple occasions, contradicting Trump’s written responses to Mueller.26Lawfare. What Did the Senate Intelligence Committee Find
House January 6 Committee
The House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack interviewed more than 1,000 witnesses and held 10 public hearings. On December 19, 2022, it voted unanimously to refer Trump to the Justice Department on four criminal charges: conspiracy to defraud the United States, obstruction of an official proceeding, conspiracy to make a false statement, and aiding an insurrection. The committee concluded Trump engaged in a “multi-part conspiracy” to overturn the 2020 election and acknowledged the referrals were symbolic. It dissolved on January 3, 2023.27PBS NewsHour. Jan. 6 Committee Issues Criminal Referrals Against Trump
The Presidential Immunity Ruling
The Supreme Court’s July 1, 2024, decision in Trump v. United States now sits behind every remaining question in these cases. In a 6-3 ruling, the Court held that former presidents have absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for conduct within their “conclusive and preclusive constitutional authority,” such as directing the Justice Department, and at least presumptive immunity for other official acts. Prosecutors must rebut that presumption by showing prosecution would not intrude on executive authority. For unofficial, private conduct, there is no immunity.28Supreme Court of the United States. Trump v. United States, Opinion
The ruling also barred prosecutors from using evidence of official acts to prove liability for unofficial ones and forbade courts from inquiring into a president’s motives when classifying conduct. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, dissenting, wrote that the decision “reshapes the institution of the Presidency” by insulating corrupt uses of official power from prosecution.4SCOTUSblog. Justices Rule Trump Has Some Immunity From Prosecution
Jack Smith’s Final Report and the January 6 Pardons
Special Counsel Jack Smith submitted a two-volume final report to Attorney General Merrick Garland on January 7, 2025. Volume One, on the election interference case, was released and described an “unprecedented criminal effort” by Trump to overturn the 2020 election. Smith wrote that the decision to bring charges “rests entirely with President Trump and his actions” and rejected claims of White House influence.3U.S. Department of Justice. Report of Special Counsel Smith, Volume 1
Volume Two, on the classified documents case, has not been released publicly. A judge blocked its disclosure in February 2025, and the Trump administration’s Justice Department has continued to withhold it. Congressional Democrats called the suppression “nonsensical” given that Smith was allowed to testify under oath about the same events.29Courthouse News Service. House Judiciary Committee Democrats Letter on Smith Report Volume 2 Smith’s congressional testimony on December 17, 2025, ran nearly eight hours. He said he had “no doubt” that Trump intended to seek retribution against him and his staff. The Trump administration fired Smith and his team upon taking office.30BBC News. Jack Smith Testimony Transcript Released
On January 20, 2025, Trump issued sweeping clemency to nearly all defendants charged in connection with the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack. He granted “full, complete and unconditional” pardons to most and commuted the sentences of 14 members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, most convicted of seditious conspiracy. He also directed the Attorney General to dismiss all pending January 6 indictments.31New York Times. Trump Pardons Jan. 6 Defendants The action covered roughly 1,500 defendants, including those convicted of assaulting police officers with weapons. Trump said case-by-case review would have been too “cumbersome” and called the defendants “patriots.” An NPR investigation found dozens of pardoned defendants had prior convictions or pending charges for serious crimes unrelated to January 6, including sexual abuse of a minor, domestic violence, and drug trafficking.32NPR. Donald Trump Jan. 6 Pardons