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Fact check: What are the specific charges in each of Trump's criminal cases?
Executive Summary
Donald Trump faces multiple criminal prosecutions spanning New York, federal courts, and Georgia, with 88 felony counts initially charged across four major investigations and a 34-count conviction in the New York hush-money prosecution. The cases allege crimes from falsifying business records to willful retention of national defense information, and conspiracy to obstruct or defraud the United States, with trial schedules and procedural statuses varying by jurisdiction [1] [2].
1. What everyone is pointing to: the headline claims and totals
Reporting consistently identifies four principal criminal matters: the New York hush-money case, the federal classified-documents case, the federal January 6 election-interference case, and the Georgia election subversion case. Multiple summaries place the aggregate indictment count at 88 felony counts across those prosecutions, and note that Trump has pleaded not guilty in the pending federal and state actions. The same coverage also records a significant legal milestone: a New York jury convicted Trump on 34 felony counts tied to falsified business records over a $130,000 payment to an adult-film actor, making him the first former U.S. president convicted of felony crimes [1] [3].
2. Hush-money case: the conviction and the specific crimes listed
The New York prosecution charged Trump with numerous counts of falsifying business records related to reimbursements and accounting entries tied to the $130,000 payment to suppress damaging material before the 2016 election. Coverage details that the jury returned guilty verdicts on 34 felony counts, specifying falsified corporate records as the statutory offense. The reporting emphasizes the factual core: the payments and the subsequent financial entries were the conduct underpinning the charges. That conviction is presented in the sources as already concluded and forms the most concrete adjudicative outcome among the four matters [3] [1].
3. Classified documents case: retention and national security statutes alleged
Federal authorities charged Trump with alleged mishandling of national defense information and willful retention of classified materials after leaving office, along with obstruction-related counts tied to the retrieval and handling of those documents. Summaries across the sources frame the case around statutory tools designed to protect classified information, noting the charges include both possession/retention violations and alleged efforts to impede investigators. The accounts indicate the case remains pending in federal court and is counted among the major indictments contributing to the overall 88-count total [4] [5].
4. January 6 case: conspiracy and obstruction of the electoral process alleged
Federal prosecutors charged Trump in a sprawling election-interference case stemming from January 6, alleging conduct amounting to conspiracy to defraud the United States and other obstruction-related offenses tied to efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. Coverage describes this indictment as focusing on coordinated schemes and communications to subvert lawful certification of electors. The sources portray this as among the more complex federal matters, with substantial documentary and testimonial evidentiary themes that have driven the indictment structure and the listing of counts within the broader 88-count framework [6] [7].
5. Georgia case: racketeering, state conspiracy claims, and evolving counts
In Fulton County, Georgia prosecutors pursued charges under the state Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act and related state-law offenses tied to alleged efforts to alter or challenge Georgia’s 2020 election results. Reporting highlights an original multi-count indictment that included racketeering and election-subversion allegations; subsequent filings and procedural developments adjusted specific counts for some defendants, with sources noting Trump faced eight of the original 13 charges in later reporting. The Georgia matter is described as ongoing and distinct in legal theory and potential penalties from the federal indictments [6] [8].
6. Conflicts, dismissals, and what to watch next
Sources diverge on procedural outcomes: one account states the federal classified-documents and the federal election-interference cases were dismissed due to a policy against prosecuting a sitting president, while other reporting and timelines place those federal matters as ongoing and awaiting trial. The press summaries collectively emphasize procedural complexity—gag orders, venue disputes, plea statuses, and overlapping schedules—and identify the New York conviction as the most advanced adjudication. The immediate items to watch are appellate filings and sentencing in the hush-money case, motions and scheduling in the federal matters, and evolving counts and trial dates in Georgia, all of which will materially change the numeric and legal landscape of the charges [8] [4] [5].
Sources: Aggregated reporting and case summaries from the supplied analyses [1] [4] [6] [5] [7] [3] [2] [8].