Donald Trump, the most indicted president in US history
There have been 46 American presidents so far since George Washington was elected and assumed office on April 30, 1789 up to January 20, 2021 when Joe Biden, the 46th US president assumed office. There has been no president who has had the same number of felony indictments as Donald Trump.
Trump was the 45th president of the US and he ran for reelection in 2020 but lost to Biden. He vehemently opposed his loss and is now being charged for leading that infamous January 6, 2021 so-called mutinous attack against the US Capitol, which many American legal luminaries call insurrection. As of today, Trump is facing no less than 91 charges.
He may have all the money, all the lawyers and all the influence, but does he have enough time to run a presidential campaign while shuttling from one court to another, from New York to Florida, Georgia, and Washington, D.C., defending himself against all the charges?
Last month, Trump lost in a major damages suit where a Manhattan jury found him guilty of defamation against an 80-year-old writer, E. Jean Caroll, and ordered the former to pay $83.3 million. The award consisted of $65 million in moral damages and $18.3 million in compensatory damages.
As of December 2023, Trump had been personally charged with 91 criminal offenses in four criminal cases. This total refers only to charges related to his spirited attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, including alleged election interference in Georgia, alleged falsifying documents in New York, and keeping supposed unauthorized top secret documents in Florida.
On March 30, 2023, a Manhattan grand jury approved a 34-count felony indictment against Trump for allegedly falsifying business records. Trial will be on March 24, 2024. On June 9, 2023, Department of Justice special counsel Jack Smith charged Trump with 37 counts in connection with unauthorized removal of classified documents from the White House to Trump's mansion in Mar-a-Lago in Florida.
A grand jury issued a superseding indictment charging Trump and two others for conspiracy to destroy security footage. Trial is set for May 20, 2024. On June 9, 2023, Trump was charged on August 1, 2023 with four federal criminal counts after a grand jury investigation into Trump's attempt to overthrow the results of the 2020 presidential polls.
As of today, the attention of the Trump camp is on the disqualification of the leading Republican candidate for president by the Colorado Supreme Court. The Washington, D.C. District Court of Appeals Court promulgated its ruling on February 8, 2024, declaring that Trump does not have immunity from suit in criminal election cases. This was a major legal setback for Trump. But the conservative-controlled Supreme Court seems to be leaning towards the position of Trump. Majority of the nine justices had been appointed by Republican presidents and even one who was appointed by a Democrat president seems to hold the view that a state Supreme Court cannot disqualify a candidate for the US presidency.
We neither have the space nor the time to discuss all 91 charges against Trump but it can be declared as a fact indeed that Donald Trump is the president who has the highest number of problems with law. He can even be convicted and sentenced to prison. There goes your presidential immunity.