CNN)After averting a conviction in his second impeachment trial, former President Donald Trump faces significant new legal threats as prosecutors in Georgia have joined those in New York to conduct criminal investigations into his actions.
As the nation watched harrowing videos from January 6 of Trump supporters storming the US Capitol during
the Senate impeachment trial this week, Georgia officials announced
they have opened investigations into Trump's efforts to overturn the state's election results, including by pressuring officials to "find" votes to swing the outcome in his favor.
The
new investigations add to a heaping list of legal issues facing the
former President that could threaten his finances and possibly his
freedom.
Out
of office and without the protections that the presidency afforded him,
Trump is now facing multiple criminal investigations, civil state
inquiries and defamation lawsuits by two women accusing him of sexual
assault.
The
pressure comes as Trump weighs his future in politics and in business
with the Trump Organization, which has already been impacted by the
Covid-19 pandemic, also losing corporate partnerships following Trump's January 6 speech whipping up the crowd.
In
the three weeks since Trump left the White House, the multiple legal
threats he faces have increased and become more imminent.
Georgia election results
Georgia
officials announced that the former President faces two new
investigations over calls he made to election officials in an attempt to
overturn the state's election results.
A
source familiar with the Georgia secretary of state's investigation
confirmed they are investigating two calls, including one Trump made to
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.
In the January call, audio of which was obtained
by CNN, Trump is heard pushing Raffensperger to "find" votes to
overturn the election results after his loss to then-President-elect Joe
Biden.
"This
is not an easy case, but it's not one that you should walk away from
investigating," said Bret Williams, a former federal prosecutor in New
York and Atlanta. "It will be tough to show that he had intent to
solicit Raffensperger to commit election fraud but he may have."
Trump's
senior adviser, Jason Miller, said in a statement to CNN that there was
nothing "improper or untoward" about the scheduled call between Trump
and Raffensperger.
"If
Mr. Raffensperger didn't want to receive calls about the election, he
shouldn't have run for secretary of state," Miller said in the
statement.
The investigation also involves a call Trump made in December to a Georgia election investigator
in the state secretary of state's office who was leading a probe into
allegations of ballot fraud in Cobb County. Trump is heard asking the
investigator to "find the fraud," saying the official would be a
"national hero."
The
second Georgia investigation is being conducted by the Fulton County
District Attorney's office, which announced Wednesday that it has also
opened a criminal investigation into Trump for his "attempts to
influence the administration of the 2020 Georgia general election."
"Anyone
that violates the law will be prosecuted, no matter what their social
stature is, no matter what their economics are, no matter what their
race is or their gender. We're not going to treat anyone differently,"
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis told CNN affiliate WSB in an interview earlier this week.
The
earliest a Fulton County grand jury is expected to convene is in March,
and the district attorney's office can request grand jury subpoenas as
necessary at that time.
"I
believe laws were broken because I think it was a clear effort by at
the time a President of the United States, who I think at the time also
wielded a certain amount of power to influence the secretary of state to
do something wrong," said Michael J. Moore, a former US Attorney for
the Middle District of Georgia during the Obama administration.
"I think that's what the statute says, and if those things happened, that's a violation of law," he said.
Business dealings in New York
Trump
also faces a criminal investigation in New York where the Manhattan
District Attorney's office is looking into whether the Trump
Organization violated state laws, such as insurance fraud, tax fraud or
other schemes to defraud. The scope of the investigation is broad, with
prosecutors looking into, among other things, whether the Trump
Organization misled financial institutions when applying for loans or
violated tax laws when donating a conservation easement on its estate
called Seven Springs and taking deductions on fees paid to consultants.
Prosecutors
are awaiting a decision from the US Supreme Court on whether it will
continue to delay the enforcement of a subpoena for eight years of
Trump's personal and business tax returns and related records from his
accounting firm.
If the Supreme Court allows the subpoena to be enforced, it will provide a significant boost to the investigation.
New
York State Attorney General Letitia James' office is conducting a civil
investigation into whether the Trump Organization inflated the values
of his assets in order to secure favorable loans and insurance coverage.
Alan Garten, general counsel of the Trump Organization, previously told the New York Times,
"Everything was done in strict compliance with applicable law and under
the advice of counsel and tax experts." He added, "All applicable taxes
were paid and no party received any undue benefit."
The attorney general's office deposed Eric Trump,
executive vice president of the Trump Organization, in October. James'
investigation is civil at this time but could become criminal.
The insurrection in Washington, DC
In
Washington, federal prosecutors investigating the January 6
insurrection at the US Capitol have signaled that no one is above the
law, including Trump, and have stressed that nothing is off the table
when asked if they were looking at the former President's role in
inciting violence.
In the flurry of court proceedings after more than 200 people were charged
with federal crimes, Trump's influence on rioters has been mentioned
both by prosecution and defendants looking to defray responsibility.
In a case filed Thursday
against a member of the Oath Keepers, prosecutors alleged the woman was
awaiting direction from Trump, which is the first time they have made
that direct of an allegation.
DC's Attorney General Karl Racine also warned
that Trump could face criminal charges in the days after insurrection,
saying DC laws prohibit statements that "clearly encourage, cajole
and... get people motivated to commit violence," he told MSNBC in
January.
Racine said in the interview that his office, which enforces local codes for the city, is collaborating with federal prosecutors on the case.
Freed from protection by the presidency
No longer in office, Trump cannot rely on several defenses that he did while President.
"Things
are going to speed up. He doesn't have the excuse of being the sitting
President anymore," said Jennifer Rodgers, a former federal prosecutor
and CNN legal analyst. "I do think the people that expect that we're
going to see serious action in the civil suits sooner are going to be
disappointed because civil litigation just moves so slowly anyway."
But, Rodgers added, there's no reason to delay those civil suits anymore now that he's out of office.
Those
suits include one by Racine's office, which alleges the Trump
Organization and Presidential Inaugural Committee abused more than $1
million in inauguration funds by "grossly overpaying" to use event space
at Trump's Washington, DC, hotel for his inauguration in 2017.
Ivanka Trump sat for a deposition in the case in December,
tweeting afterward a screen grab of an email which she says shows her
asking the hotel to charge "a fair market rate." Investigators also
asked Donald Trump, Jr. to sit for an interview.
"This
'inquiry' is another politically motivated demonstration of
vindictiveness & waste of taxpayer dollars," Ivanka Trump said in
her December tweet.
Trump has also been facing defamation lawsuits that were largely delayed while he was in office.
One was filed by E. Jean Carroll, a former magazine columnist who accused him of rape, and another by Summer Zervos,
a former contestant on "The Apprentice" who claims the President
sexually assaulted her in 2007. Both women say he defamed them by saying
their claims were lies.
Carroll
is seeking to depose Trump and obtain a swab of his DNA. The case was
moving forward until the Justice Department under Trump attempted to
intervene in the case.
A
federal judge denied the effort, and lawyers for Trump and the Justice
Department appealed the ruling. It is not clear if the Biden
administration will continue the appeal.
The Zervos lawsuit, which was filed in 2017, has been on hold since last year. Trump's lawyers had argued the US Constitution barred a sitting president from being sued in state court.
Last
week, Zervos' lawyers filed a motion asking the appeals court to
dismiss the appeal "as moot" and allow the lawsuit to move forward.
Trump has denied wrongdoing in both lawsuits.
One legal issue that hits closer to home is whether Trump will be able to continue living full time at Mar-a-Lago.
Neighbors
of the Palm Beach resort have argued that Trump breached an agreement
with the town by moving in full time last month. Town zoning laws allow
him to live there full time if he is considered a "bona fide employee"
of the club.
"There
is no prohibition in there about the owner using the owner's suite,"
attorney John Marion said. "This guy (Trump), as he wanders the
property, is like the mayor of Mar-a-Lago, if you will."
After a meeting on Tuesday, the town council made no decision, but it is expected to review the matter in the spring.
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