Although former President Donald Trump’s impeachment woes are over, his potential criminal exposure has not disappeared. And now that he is out of the Oval Office, investigations could turn into real problems for the twice-impeached president.
On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered Trump to hand over tax records and financial statements, dating back to 2011, to the Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, The New York Times reported.
The Supreme Court’s ruling prevents Trump from not complying with a subpoena for his financial history by Vance’s office, which began investigating “hush-money payments to two women who said they had affairs with Mr. Trump, relationships the president has denied,” the Times wrote. The full scope of Vance’s investigation is unknown, the Times added, but court filings suggest prosecutors could also be looking into tax and insurance fraud.
Trump’s accountants — Mazars USA — said they will comply with the court’s decision and will also turn over “engagement agreements” with the accountants who prepared Trump’s tax records and financial statements, raw financial data and how that data was analyzed, according to the Times.
“The work continues,” Vance said in the three-word statement from his office after the Supreme Court’s ruling was announced.
Also on Monday, U.S. Attorney General nominee Merrick Garland said at his confirmation hearing that investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot would be a top priority if he is confirmed, The Washington Post reported.
“We begin with the people on the ground and we work our way up to those who are involved and further involved,” Garland told the Senate Judiciary Committee during his hearing, according to the Post. “And we will pursue these leads wherever they take us.”
Trump could face federal and local criminal charges for inciting the deadly riot, The Wall Street Journal reported, but that would be challenging for prosecutors.
They can review Trump’s involvement as part of their sweeping investigation — which has already charged hundreds of rioters — and Washington, D.C., Attorney General Karl Recine is said to be “investigating whether former President Trump or any other individual violated district law and illegally incited violence on Jan. 6,” according to The Wall Street Journal.
Legal factors like whether or not Trump’s speech was protected, the intent of his speech and if the violent actions by his supporters were foreseeable all would need to be addressed for prosecutors to bring a case against Trump, the Journal reported.
“I think all of these factors would make it a difficult prosecution, though not an impossible one,” Tom Firestone, a former assistant U.S. attorney who spent 14 years with the Justice Department, told the Journal.
Political leaders, both Democrats and Republicans, have said that Trump is responsible for the deadly riot that attempted to prevent Congress from confirming President Joe Biden’s 2020 Electoral College victory.
Trump’s potential legal woes also extend past New York and Washington.
Prosecutors in Fulton County, Georgia, are investigating whether Trump broke any state laws by pressing election officials there to “recalculate” and “find” enough votes to ensure his victory in the battleground state.
“This investigation includes, but is not limited to, potential violations of Georgia law prohibiting the solicitation of election fraud, the making of false statements to state and local governmental bodies, conspiracy, racketeering, violation of oath of office and any involvement in violence or threats related to the election’s administration,” wrote Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis of the investigation, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
Willis said the investigation was a “matter of high priority” and a Fulton County grand jury would convene in March, according to the Journal-Constitution.