In the months leading up to the 2024 presidential election, legal experts had made clear that if Donald Trump were to win a second term in the White House, his legal problems would almost evaporate.

On Monday, the New York judge in his hush money trial (the only criminal case against Trump in which a jury has already returned a guilty verdict) postponed his decision on whether to overturn the conviction in light of Trump’s victory about Vice President Kamala Harris.

Here is a summary of the current status of that case and the others filed against the president-elect.

Hush money in New York

In May, Trump became the first former president convicted of a felony when a New York City jury found him guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal a $130,000 payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.

Sentencing in that case had been set for Nov. 26, but Trump’s lawyers had argued that the conviction should be overturned given the Supreme Court’s July ruling that presidents are immune from prosecution for “acts.” “officials” performed while in office. Because Manhattan prosecutors used evidence obtained from the Trump White House to make their case, Trump’s lawyers told the judge that the verdict should not be allowed to stand.

Judge Juan Merchán was scheduled to issue his ruling on the Supreme Court immunity question on Tuesday but, citing Trump’s election victory, delayed that decision until November 19.

Trump’s lawyers have also argued that the conviction should be overturned “to avoid unconstitutional impediments to President Trump’s ability to govern.”

In an email to Merchan, prosecutors from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office agreed that “these are unprecedented circumstances” and the judge asked them to suggest a path forward.

Even if Merchan allows Trump’s conviction to stand, it’s almost certain that, as a first-time offender and newly re-elected president, he will not be sentenced to prison in the case.

January 6 election interference

In the final days of the 2024 election, Trump was asked if he planned fire special prosecutor Jack Smith if re-elected.

“We have immunity in the Supreme Court. It’s very easy. I would fire him in two seconds. It will be one of the first things addressed,” Trump told interviewer Hugh Hewitt.

Appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland, Smith brought four felony charges against Trump stemming from his attempts to overturn his loss to Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election. While the Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity delayed the trial , Smith reframed his case and secured a second grand jury indictment against Trump designed to withstand another immunity challenge.

But last week, following Trump’s election victory, Smith filed a motion with Judge Tanya Chutkan saying the government “respectfully requests that the Court vacate the remaining deadlines on the pretrial calendar to allow the government time to evaluate this circumstance.” unprecedented”. Chutkan agreed. Smith considers this pause to be the first step in closing the case against Trump.

As with the hush money case, the judge asked prosecutors to submit a status report “indicating the proposed course of this case going forward.” Smith’s team now has until December 2 to do so.

Once he is sworn in, Trump can simply order his attorney general to remove Smith from the case, virtually ensuring that he never comes before a jury.

Classified documents

The other federal case brought against Trump by Smith concerns his handling of classified documents after leaving the White House in 2021. But Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, dismissed the case in Julyconcluding that Garland’s appointment of Smith was unconstitutional.

In August, Smith appealed Cannon’s ruling to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, writing: “Congress has given the Attorney General not only the power to appoint special counsels, but also the discretion to determine how much independence to grant them.”

However, with Trump’s return to power, Trump can easily make the case go away.

“You can order the Department of Justice not to even bother filing the appeal.” NBC News legal analyst Danny Cevallos told the networkAnd he added: “Federal cases are going to disappear.”

Election interference in Georgia

Trump faces eight felony charges in the Georgia election interference case involving his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Biden in the key state. While four of Trump’s original 18 co-defendants have pleaded guilty in the case, the remaining 14, including Trump, could still end up going to trial.

But attorneys for the remaining defendants have appealed Judge Scott McAfee’s ruling allowing Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to continue prosecuting the case, further delaying the start of Trump’s trial. If their efforts to get Willis off the case are successful, a new prosecutor could take it backalthough that is far from a certainty in such a complex case.

Trump’s lawyers have also noted that his election victory means they will ask the court to delay the case until he leaves office and, as in the January 6 case, that they will challenge him again on the grounds that presidential immunity protects him. of processing.

Does that mean Trump will never set foot in a Georgia court over this matter? No. But it seems like the chances of that happening in the next four years are slim to none.