Donald Trump Inundated With Over a Dozen Lawsuits – Newsweek

Ex-President Donald Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen is suing his one-time boss, claiming retaliatory imprisonment over his return to federal prison in 2019.

Cohen alleges that the decision to return him to prison was in retaliation for writing a memoir that was strongly critical of the former president. He is seeking damages for "extreme physical and emotional harm" and violations of his First Amendment rights.

The lawsuit is just the latest legal action taken against Trump, who is now dealing with more than a dozen cases in addition to investigations that could result in further lawsuits. Here is a summary of the lawsuits against the former president and ongoing investigations.

Trump is facing four separate civil lawsuits relating to the events of January 6 and the storming of the Capitol. On Thursday, a federal district judge set a date of January 10, 2022, for oral arguments to consider whether three of those cases should be dismissed.

One of those suits was filed against Trump by Democratic Representative Eric Swalwell, a second by two Capitol police officers and a third by a group of Democratic lawmakers which previously included Representative Bennie Thompson. He withdrew from the case when he became chair of the House of Representatives' Select Committee investigating January 6.

A fourth lawsuit was filed by seven Capitol police officers over injuries they sustained on January 6 and accuses Trump of conspiring to incite a riot along with co-defendants including the Proud Boys.

Trump is facing two investigations in New York into the Trump Organization's finances.

Attorney General Letitia James is examining allegations that Trump's company misstated property values in order to avoid tax liability and announced in May that the investigation is now criminal.

James' office is working with Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, who has also been investigating the Trump Organization and its finances. In July, the company and its chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg were charged over an alleged 15-year tax fraud scheme. They plead not guilty.

The former president's niece, Mary Trump, is suing him alleging that she was defrauded out of millions of dollars in inheritance. Trump has filed a lawsuit against his niece as well as The New York Times and some of its reporters over disclosure of some of his tax information published in the newspaper, further adding to the lawsuits he's currently involved in. Mary Trump has emerged as a strong critic of her uncle.

Writer E. Jean Carroll is suing Trump for defamation over remarks where he said she had falsely accused him of rape. Trump's attorneys and the Department of Justice have argued that the U.S. government should take his place as defendant in the case as Trump was acting in his official capacity as president when he answered reporters' questions about Carroll's 2019 book.

The attorney general of the District of Columbia (D.C.), Karl Racine, is suing several groups affiliated with Trump for allegedly misusing funds for the former president's 2017 inauguration. The attorney general alleges that more than $1 million was used to improperly enrich the Trump family's businesses, including by paying very high rates for space at the Trump International Hotel.

The district attorney in Fulton County, Georgia has opened a criminal investigation into possible election interference by Trump in 2020. Two grand juries have reportedly already been convened and reports in November suggested that a special grand jury could be established dedicated to examining allegations of election tampering.

The Trump family has been sued by an anonymous group of plaintiffs who claim the Trumps used their brand to scam investors. Some investors with American Communications Network claim Trump promoted a fraud for years through The Apprentice. The lawsuit suggests it was a pyramid scheme. In July, a court ruled the matter could not be settled through arbitration and the case could advance.

The NAACP's Legal Defense Fund is suing Trump, the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee for violating the Voting Rights Act and the Ku Klux Klan Act for their alleged attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Six protesters are suing Trump alleging that his security guards assaulted them outside Trump Tower in 2015. The former president sat for a four-hour deposition on the matter on October 18, 2021.

The district attorney's office in Westchester, New York has launched an investigation examining whether the Trump Organization misled local officials about the value of the Trump National Golf Club Westchester. The allegation is similar to those being pursued by the New York attorney general and Manhattan district attorney.

D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine has launched a criminal probe into whether Trump had a role in inciting the riots on January 6. Racine said in January that the former president could potentially face a misdemeanor charge arising from the investigation that could result in a six-month prison sentence.

In addition to lawsuits taken against him and ongoing investigations, Trump is also party to other litigation. He is suing the House Select Committee investigating January 6 to prevent the disclosure of documents he argues are covered by executive privilege. He has so far been unsuccessful in the courts but the Supreme Court is likely to make the final decision.

Trump is also in a legal battle with another House committee, the Oversight Committee, over access to his financial records that were originally requested in 2019. That litigation is ongoing and likely headed back to the Supreme Court.

Separately, Trump has filed suit against social media companies Facebook, Twitter and YouTube for suspending his accounts in the wake of the Capitol riot. In addition, there is the suit against his niece, Mary Trump, and The New York Times.

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Donald Trump Inundated With Over a Dozen Lawsuits - Newsweek