When FBI agents arrived three months ago at the South Florida home of former President Donald Trump, their search warrant made clear that the oceanside Mar-a-Lago estate had become a suspected crime scene.
The announcement that the former president would return to the White House would be made at Mar-a-Lago, the president's private club in Palm Beach.
Trump's official campaign launch set the stage for a comeback bid that will unfold against a torrent of legal scrutiny that is only getting worse.
From the Justice Department alone, Trump faces a criminal inquiry into his possession of sensitive government records at Mar-a-Lago, as well as a separate investigation into his attempts to prevent Joe Biden from succeeding him. The way for at least one former administration official to testify has been cleared by rulings in the courts.
The state attorney general in New York has gone to trial against the Trump Organization on financial fraud charges, as well as an Atlanta-area prosecutor investigating attempts to overturn the 2020 election.
Trump's formal campaign launch will not protect him because the Justice Department has pursued its investigations. The decision-making at the Justice Department could be complicated by his bid for a second meeting with Biden.
Senior Justice Department officials discussed the possibility of appointing a special counsel to investigate the former president if he decided to run again. The decision to charge a former president more painful for the Justice Department is likely to be made more painful by Trump's announcement.
Trump's status as the Republican standard-bearer appeared to diminish as several of his endorsed candidates suffered defeats and an emerging rival within the party, Ron DeSantis, easily won reelection. Randall Eliason, a law professor at George Washington University and former top public corruption prosecutor in the US attorney's office in Washington, DC, said that Trump's entry in the race presents a conflict of interest for the department.
"This will give a degree of separation from the Biden administration that will cause the public to have some increased confidence in whatever decision is made, and that's the purpose of the whole special counsel regime," he said.
In investigations that create at least the perception of a conflict of interest or other extraordinary circumstances, the Justice Department requires the appointment of a special counsel. The decision of whether to bring charges would be left to the attorney general.
The Justice Department is about to make a statement. Federal prosecutors are no longer bound by the Justice Department's longstanding practice of avoiding politically sensitive investigative steps before an election that could affect voters.
A Justice Department spokesman wouldn't say anything.
As voters in Georgia went to the polls, an Atlanta-area prosecutor refrained from taking steps that could have been life threatening. The Fulton County District Attorney's investigation into Trump's efforts to subvert the 2020 election appears to have regained steam.
Kemp appeared before an Atlanta-area grand jury. After rejecting the Georgia governor's bid to quash the subpoena, the judge overseeing the grand jury allowed Kemp to wait until after the elections.
Trump pressured Kemp to overturn Biden's win in Georgia.
Michael Flynn was ordered to testify before the grand jury in Florida by a judge. Cassidy Hutchinson is a former aide to White House chief of staff MarkMeadows.
According to a recent report, experts say that Trump is at risk of prosecution.
The scope of conduct may be expanded or the charges may be brought if additional evidence is found. It is critical to the integrity of our rule-of-law system, and our constitutional republic, that the investigation proceeds.
The CFO of the Trump Organization testified at the company trial on financial fraud charges. Allen Weisselberg, who has worked for the company for decades, admitted to receiving perks without paying taxes.
The Republicans are poised to take back the majority in the House. While Republicans did not ride the "red wave," their return to the majority would spell the end of a panel that has publicly aired damning evidence against Trump.
In a series of public hearings and court filings, the House January 6 committee has linked the violence of the Capitol attack to Trump's rhetoric, including a comment on the presidential debate stage urging members of the Proud Boys group to "stand by."
A federal judge found that Trump likely committed crimes, including obstruction of an official proceeding, when he tried to overturn the election results. Judge David Carter said those efforts were in search of a legal theory.
The House January 6 committee is still going on.
After months of work, the committee has transcripts of more than 1000 interviews, including with former Trump administration officials and two of the former president's children. The transcripts can be released with a final report.
The House January 6 committee voted to subpoena Trump after he sued the panel. The upcoming report and interview transcripts from the committee could hurt Trump on the campaign trail, especially with voters who rejected his election deniers in the recent elections.
The Justice Department's prosecutors and investigators were denied access to the House committee's transcripts.
The expected majority in the House won't be as strong as Republicans hoped.
The Republicans warned that they would grill the Justice Department and FBI about investigations involving Trump if they won the election. Even in the minority, Democrats will be able to impede and frustrate some of those efforts because of the Republican majority.
It's not clear how Republicans will respond to the election in which many felt that Trump was a drag on the ticket.
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