A Democracy Drive Thread
Four indictments, 91 felony counts, one conviction on 34 of them — and how winning the presidency made the cases go away.
In 2023 Donald Trump became the first former president to be criminally charged: in Manhattan over hush-money payments to Stormy Daniels, in Florida over classified documents he kept at Mar-a-Lago and obstructed efforts to recover, and in Washington and Georgia over his effort to overturn the 2020 election. A jury convicted him on all 34 counts in the Manhattan case. Then he won the 2024 election, and the federal cases were dropped, the Georgia case collapsed, and his own Justice Department went to work erasing what remained. This thread tracks the cases in order, with sources.
March 30, 2023
On the ground
On May 30, 2024, a jury convicted him on all 34 counts. After he won the 2024 election he was sentenced to an unconditional discharge, with no penalty, and appealed.
June 8, 2023
On the ground
Prosecutors said he showed classified material to visitors and had staff move boxes to hide them. Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the case in July 2024, ruling the special counsel was unlawfully appointed. After Trump won, his Justice Department dropped the appeal.
February 11, 2025
On the ground
Both had been charged with obstruction for allegedly moving boxes of classified papers at Mar-a-Lago after the FBI demanded them back. Judge Aileen Cannon had dismissed the case, ruling Jack Smith was unlawfully appointed.
March 4, 2025
On the ground
A jury convicted Trump in May 2024 on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. A federal judge had twice refused to move the case, ruling it concerned Trump’s personal life, not his presidency.