Courts & accusations

Trump convicted of 34 felony counts in New York hush-money case

$130,000 hush-money payment

A Manhattan jury convicted Trump on May 30, 2024 of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to conceal a $130,000 payment his lawyer Michael Cohen made to Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election. On January 10, 2025 he was sentenced to an unconditional discharge, which leaves the conviction on his record with no jail, fine or probation. As of October 2026 the conviction stands: his state appeal is pending in the Appellate Division, First Department, and on August 28, 2026 a federal judge rejected for the third time his bid to move the case to federal court, a ruling his lawyers said they would appeal.

Their response: Trump pleaded not guilty, has long denied Daniels’ claim and at sentencing called the case “a political witch hunt.” A spokesperson for his legal team called the August 2026 ruling “baseless and lawless.”

Sources: Manhattan District Attorney press release · Los Angeles Times / AP (sentencing, Jan 10, 2025) · ABC News (appeal filed, Oct 28, 2025) · ABC News (DA opposes appeal, Jul 29, 2026) · NBC New York / AP (removal denied, Aug 28, 2026)

New York court found Trump liable for business fraud; appeals court kept the finding but threw out the penalty

$363.8M penalty ordered, later thrown out on appeal

Justice Arthur Engoron ruled in September 2023 that Trump was liable for fraud in a civil case over inflated asset values, and in February 2024 ordered the defendants to pay $363.8 million plus interest (more than $450 million in total) and barred Trump from serving as an officer or director of any New York company for three years. On August 21, 2025 a divided Appellate Division upheld the fraud liability and the non-monetary restrictions but threw out the money penalty as an excessive fine under the Eighth Amendment. Attorney General Letitia James appealed to the New York Court of Appeals in September 2025; no ruling from that court had been reported as of October 2026.

Their response: Trump called the case a “politically motivated Witch Hunt” and, after the 2025 appeals ruling, declared “TOTAL VICTORY in the FAKE New York State Attorney General Letitia James Case!”

Sources: New York Attorney General press release (Feb 16, 2024) · CNN (fraud ruling, Sep 26, 2023) · CNN (appeals ruling, Aug 21, 2025) · CNBC (James appeals, Sep 4, 2025)

Jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming E. Jean Carroll

$5M verdict; $5.6M paid with interest

On May 9, 2023 a federal civil jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing writer E. Jean Carroll in the mid-1990s and for defaming her, awarding her $5 million; the jury did not find that he raped her. The Second Circuit upheld the verdict in December 2024 and denied rehearing in June 2025, and the Supreme Court declined to hear the case on June 29, 2026 and denied rehearing on August 17, 2026. Carroll was paid $5,625,005.48 including interest in July 2026, and Trump dropped his last appeal in September 2026, so the verdict is final.

Their response: Trump denies Carroll’s account. In September 2026 a spokesperson for his legal team called the litigation “the Democrat-funded travesty of the Carroll Hoaxes.”

Sources: NPR (verdict, May 9, 2023) · U.S. Supreme Court docket No. 25-573 · NBC News (payment, Jul 14, 2026) · The Guardian (appeal dropped, Sep 29, 2026)

Second jury ordered Trump to pay E. Jean Carroll $83.3 million for defamation

$83.3M verdict (on appeal)

On January 26, 2024 a federal jury ordered Trump to pay Carroll $83.3 million for defaming her when he called her a liar after she accused him of sexual assault; the judge had already ruled before trial that he defamed her. The Second Circuit upheld the award on September 8, 2025 and denied rehearing on April 29, 2026. Trump and the Justice Department each asked the Supreme Court to take the case in July 2026 (Nos. 26-141 and 26-142); Carroll’s responses are due October 30, 2026, so this award is not yet final.

Their response: Trump’s campaign called the trial a “political weapon.” He is asking the Supreme Court to throw out the award.

Sources: NPR (verdict, Jan 26, 2024) · HuffPost / AP (Second Circuit ruling, Sep 8, 2025) · U.S. Supreme Court docket No. 26-141 (Trump petition) · U.S. Supreme Court docket No. 26-142 (United States petition)

Trump Organization companies convicted of criminal tax fraud

$1.6M criminal fine

On December 6, 2022 a Manhattan jury found two Trump Organization companies, the Trump Corporation and Trump Payroll Corp., guilty on all 17 counts they faced in a 15-year scheme to avoid taxes on executive perks. In January 2023 the companies were fined $1.6 million, the maximum allowed by law. Trump himself was not charged in this case.

Their response: The company denied wrongdoing, said it would appeal and called the case part of a “never ending witch-hunt.” Trump denied any knowledge that executives were evading taxes.

Sources: CNN (verdict, Dec 6, 2022) · PBS NewsHour / AP (fine, Jan 2023)

Trump Organization finance chief Allen Weisselberg pleaded guilty to tax crimes and later to perjury

$1.7M in untaxed perks

Allen Weisselberg, the Trump Organization’s longtime chief financial officer, pleaded guilty on August 18, 2022 to 15 felonies, admitting he failed to pay taxes on $1.7 million in off-the-books perks, and received a five-month jail sentence. In March 2024 he pleaded guilty to two counts of perjury over his testimony in Trump’s civil fraud case and was sentenced on April 10, 2024 to another five months. Trump was not charged in the tax case.

Their response: Weisselberg testified that Trump and his family did not know about the scheme as it was happening; Trump has denied any knowledge of it.

Sources: CNN (guilty plea, Aug 18, 2022) · NBC News (perjury sentence, Apr 10, 2024) · CBC / AP (first sentence, Jan 2023)

Court ordered Trump to pay $2 million for misusing his charity, which was dissolved

$2M in court-ordered damages

New York’s attorney general sued the Donald J. Trump Foundation in June 2018, and the foundation agreed in December 2018 to dissolve under court supervision. On November 7, 2019 a New York judge ordered Trump to pay $2 million in damages for using charitable assets to further his 2016 campaign, and in a court stipulation he admitted personally misusing foundation funds, including paying $10,000 for a portrait of himself and settling legal obligations of his companies. He paid the $2 million to eight charities.

Their response: Trump tweeted that he was being “attacked by the political hacks in New York State” and said the attorney general “is deliberately mischaracterizing this settlement for political purposes.”

Sources: New York Attorney General press release (Nov 7, 2019) · New York Attorney General press release (payment) · NPR (Nov 7, 2019)

Trump paid $25 million to settle Trump University fraud suits without admitting wrongdoing

$25M settlement

Days after the 2016 election, Trump agreed to pay $25 million to settle two federal class actions and a New York attorney general lawsuit brought on behalf of former students, who said they were lured by false promises to pay up to $35,000 to learn his real-estate “secrets” from “hand-picked” instructors. A federal judge approved the deal in March 2017 and finalized it in April 2018 after one student’s challenge failed on appeal. The settlement did not include an admission of wrongdoing.

Their response: Trump denied the allegations and said he relied on others to manage the business. The settlement admitted no wrongdoing.

Sources: The Guardian (settlement, Nov 18, 2016) · CNN (settlement finalized, Apr 10, 2018)

Trump was charged with 40 federal counts over classified documents; the case was dismissed before trial

Special counsel Jack Smith charged Trump in June 2023, and added counts in July 2023, for a total of 40 felony counts including willful retention of national defense information and obstruction over documents kept at Mar-a-Lago. Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the case on July 15, 2024, ruling that Smith’s appointment violated the Constitution’s Appointments Clause, and prosecutors dropped the case against Trump in November 2024 after he won the election. The charges were never tried, and no court ruled on whether he was guilty.

Their response: Trump pleaded not guilty. After the dismissal he called it a “Lawless Indictment” and part of “an Election Interference conspiracy.”

Sources: CNBC (superseding indictment, Jul 27, 2023) · CNN (not-guilty plea, Aug 4, 2023) · NPR (dismissal, Jul 15, 2024) · CNN (cases dropped, Nov 25, 2024)

Jack Smith’s report on the classified documents case remains sealed

The special counsel’s final report has two parts: the part on the 2020 election case was released in January 2025, but Volume II, on the classified documents case, has never been made public. On February 23, 2026 Judge Aileen Cannon ruled that it will not be released, writing that “it is certainly not customary” for a prosecutor whose case was thrown out to publicly release material from it. Transparency groups including American Oversight are challenging the secrecy on appeal.

Their response: Trump and his co-defendants fought the report’s release; Cannon noted they “still proclaim their innocence.”

Sources: CNN (Feb 23, 2026) · MS NOW (Feb 23, 2026)

Judge held Trump in criminal contempt 10 times for violating a gag order

$10,000 in contempt fines

During his New York criminal trial, Justice Juan Merchan found Trump in criminal contempt for willfully violating a gag order on nine occasions in an April 30, 2024 order and a tenth time on May 6, 2024. He fined Trump $1,000 for each violation, $10,000 in total, and warned that jail was possible for further violations.

Their response: Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung called the gag order “unconstitutional and un-American” and said Trump “has not violated this wrongful edict.”

Sources: Decision and Order on contempt, People v. Trump (Apr 30, 2024, archived copy) · CNN (tenth finding, May 6, 2024)

New York Times investigation alleged Trump took part in tax schemes to receive his father’s wealth

$413M received from his father (New York Times)

A New York Times investigation published in October 2018 reported that Trump received the equivalent of $413 million in today’s dollars from his father’s real estate empire, and that the family used schemes including what the paper called “instances of outright fraud” to avoid taxes on the transfers. New York’s tax department said it was reviewing the allegations. This is press reporting, not a court finding.

Their response: Trump’s lawyer Charles Harder denied any fraud or tax evasion and said “the facts upon which The Times bases its allegations are extremely inaccurate.”

Sources: CNBC (Oct 2, 2018) · The New York Times investigation (paywalled, not opened)

About two dozen women have publicly accused Trump of sexual misconduct; he denies all of it

ABC News counted at least 18 women who had publicly accused Trump of sexual harassment or assault as of September 2020, and The Guardian put the number at about two dozen in October 2024. These are allegations that have not been tested in court, with one exception: the 2023 civil jury finding that he sexually abused E. Jean Carroll.

Their response: Trump has denied all of the women’s allegations; his campaign called an accusation made in October 2024 “unequivocally false.”

Sources: ABC News (list of accusers, Sep 18, 2020) · The Guardian (Oct 23, 2024) · NPR (Carroll verdict, May 9, 2023)