Donald Trump had a difficult week.
With the legal protections he enjoyed while president fading from view, Trump was reminded again and again that the risks from criminal and civil proceedings are greater than ever before.
While Trump has spent most of his adult life in court, the last week graphically showed that he is now in serious legal jeopardy. He is expected to run for the GOP nomination again in four years.
According to the Fulton County District Attorney, she has heard credible information that crimes were committed.
There are serious allegations. People who are indicted and convicted will face prison sentences.
At least 17 people in Trump's circle have been told that they are targets of the criminal investigation. She told the Post that no decision has been made on whether to seek Trump's testimony. The Secretary of State's office in Georgia recorded the president ordering election officials to find 11,780 votes in order to reverse his loss in the state.
Trump lashed out at her on his personal social network site after she said that her investigation could lead to convictions and jail time for some people involved.
She bases her claims on trying to find a tiny word or phrase on the phone call with the Secretary of State and many other people who were aware of the call. There is a strictly political witch hunt.
Legal issues are not limited to Georgia. In an apparent violation of federal law, the Justice Department seized highly classified documents from Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate.
A district judge appointed by the former president ruled last Thursday that the Justice Department couldn't continue scrutinizing the documents until a court-appointed special master had reviewed more than 11,000 records. Legal wrangling slowed down the investigation.
On Wednesday, a federal appeals court ruled that Cannon was wrong in prohibiting the Justice Department from investigating the documents while the special master did his work. A panel of judges from the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously stayed part of Cannon's previous ruling.
The appeals court didn't like what Trump and his lawyers had to say about why he held on to the documents.
The panel said that Trump has not tried to show that he needs to know the information. He hasn't found out that the current administration doesn't require that for these documents.
The key to Trump's legal strategy is his claim that he declassified the documents before storing them.
Cannon had installed Judge Raymond Dearie as the special master. At his first 40-minute hearing with lawyers for the former president and the government, Dearie pressed Trump's legal team on their refusal to present evidence that Trump had declassified any of the material clearly marked as highly sensitive.
Dearie said that he would finish with his review by the end of the month.
According to the New York Times, Eric Herschmann, a White House lawyer, told Trump late last year that he faced legal consequences if he didn't return the documents he took to Mar-a-Lago.
The House Select Committee heard testimony from Herschmann about actions taken by Trump and his allies. The Justice Department is investigating the attack on the Capitol.
The Trump Organization is accused of inflating the value of real estate assets in order to obtain favorable loan rates and pay less in taxes.
James said at a news conference Wednesday that they were going to file a lawsuit against Donald Trump for violating the law. Donald Trump lied about his net worth to enrich himself and to cheat the system, according to the complaint.
If James can prove her case in court, the results could be bad for Trump's business. The lawsuit seeks $250 million in damages, removal of Trump and his three children from their positions in the Trump Organization, an independent monitor for five years to oversee the company's compliance with the law, and a ban on the business's commercial real estate acquisitions for five years.
A criminal referral to federal prosecutors and a tax fraud referral to the IRS will be filed by James. Criminal charges could be filed if another federal investigation ensues. If he is found guilty, he could be sentenced to jail.
James, who is black, was labeled a racist by Trump.
The city is one of the crime and murder disasters of the world under James' watch.
Trump had an explanation for his handling of the classified documents on Fox News.
The former president told Sean that he could declassify it if he said it was declassified. There can be a process, but not always.
The argument doesn't make sense, according to a legal expert.
It is nonsense on stilts, that's what it is. The former deputy assistant secretary for policy in the Department of Homeland Security said it almost seems delusional.
The purpose of a classification system is to tell people how to handle certain types of documents. The definition of absurdist anarchy is a classification system where only the ex- President knows their true classifications.
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