He may have been out of power for over a year, but legal issues related to his time in office still present some risk to former President Donald Trump.
The most serious cases include two criminal investigations: one into possible election interference and another into alleged financial crimes.
Meanwhile, a political inquiry is considering recommending criminal charges over Mr Trump’s role in the storming of Congress on 6 January, 2021.
As Mr Trump contemplates a 2024 presidential rerun, here are the legal cases which may threaten those ambitions.
US Capitol riot
Election interference
Financial affairs
Sexual misconduct
White House records
That must be everything, right?
Not quite. A long list of other investigations and potential lawsuits includes:
• The Washington DC attorney general’s criminal investigation into the 6 January attack. Last year he said Mr Trump could possibly be charged for encouraging the violence but no action has been taken
• A lawsuit by the same DC attorney general, who has accused Mr Trump of misusing funds for his 2017 inauguration. The trial is expected to begin later this year
• Various lawsuits by police officers who have accused Mr Trump of inciting the 6 January attack in which they suffered injuries
• A lawsuit by Mr Trump’s niece, Mary Trump, who says her uncle and his siblings allegedly cheated her out of inheritance. Trump has sought to dismiss the lawsuit, which was filed in a state court in New York City
• A lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court by Mr Trump’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen, who alleges his old boss sent him back to prison in retaliation for writing a tell-all memoir
The article doesn’t explain why the legal cases threaten his ambitions to run for President. Donald Trump has always had legal troubles. That’s not new. Some of these were even supported by his base. Most of them were overlooked the first time he ran for office.
He’s had financial lawsuits and sexual misconduct suits in the past.
Why are these lawsuits different? The article doesn’t explain much about that. For most people, any lawsuit would be a career ending kind of thing, but Donald Trump is not most people.
That might play to his advantage because he might be seen as a martyr. It will also keep him from shooting himself in the foot on the campaign trail.
Added: as to the impoverished part, Trump has already declared bankruptcy so many times, I can’t remember how many there were and looking it up took too long.
