Trump's Legal Troubles: Which Laws Did He Break?

Former US President Donald Trump has been accused of breaking several laws during his time in office. In March 2023, he became the first sitting or former president to be indicted on criminal charges. Trump was charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to conceal payments made to the pornographic film actress Stormy Daniels as hush money. The Manhattan District Attorney accused Trump of doing this with the intent to commit other crimes, including violation of federal campaign finance limits, unlawfully influencing the 2016 US presidential election, and tax fraud. Trump was convicted on all counts in May 2024, but he received an unconditional discharge in January 2025.

In addition to the above, the House Jan. 6 committee has urged the Justice Department to consider prosecuting Trump for four crimes related to his efforts to undo the results of the 2020 presidential election and his behaviour during the Capitol insurrection. The four charges are: obstruction of an official proceeding, conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to make a false statement, and inciting or aiding an insurrection.

Conspiracy to defraud the US

Conspiracy to defraud the United States is a general statute that makes it a crime to work with someone else to carry out fraud against the U.S.

Former President Donald Trump was charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States in connection with his efforts to subvert the will of voters in 2020. The indictment, filed by special counsel Jack Smith, accuses Trump of taking part in three conspiracies: one to defraud the United States, a second to obstruct an official government proceeding, and a third to deprive people of a civil right, the right to have their votes counted.

The indictment alleges that Trump and his co-conspirators ""used knowingly false claims of election fraud" to pressure officials in certain states to ignore the popular vote, disenfranchise millions of voters, and ultimately cause the ascertainment of and voting by illegitimate electors in his favour.

Prosecutors also cite the efforts by Trump and his allies to cause fake electoral college certificates to be submitted for use by then-vice president Mike Pence to hijack the certification of the election and declare Trump the winner. When Pence refused, prosecutors allege that Trump and co-conspirators "repeated knowingly false claims of election fraud" and directed his supporters to the Capitol to obstruct the certification proceeding.

The indictment further alleges that Trump and his allies ""exploited" the January 6 attack on the Capitol, "redoubling efforts to levy false claims of election fraud" and convincing members of Congress to further delay the certification.

The conspiracy to defraud the United States charge against Trump is one of four felony counts he faces in connection with his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. The other charges include conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, conspiracy against rights, and obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding.

Obstruction of an official proceeding

The crime is codified as 18 U.S.C. § 1512(c)(2). The relevant subsection reads:

> (c) Whoever corruptly—

> (1) alters, destroys, mutilates, or conceals a record, document, or other object, or attempts to do so, with the intent to impair the object's integrity or availability for use in an official proceeding; or

> (2) otherwise obstructs, influences, or impedes any official proceeding, or attempts to do so,

> shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both.

The term "official proceeding" is defined in 18 U.S.C. § 1515(a)(1) to include proceedings before federal judges, Congress, federal government agencies, and regulators of insurance businesses.

In August 2023, a grand jury indicted former President Donald Trump on four charges for his conduct following the 2020 presidential election through the January 6 Capitol attack. Two of these charges were for obstructing an official proceeding and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding.

The indictment alleged that Trump obstructed Congress's certification of the electoral college results on January 6, including by creating fake election certificates declaring himself the winner of key swing states, as well as pressuring then-Vice President Mike Pence to disregard then-President-elect Joe Biden's electors and pushing the DOJ to falsely claim there were problems with the vote in Georgia or other states.

The charge of obstructing an official proceeding has been used in the prosecution of hundreds of people who were arrested after the January 6 riot at the Capitol. The Justice Department has brought this charge against dozens of rioters, including former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes.

Conspiracy to make a false statement

Those electors signed "patently false" certifications, and the panel maintains it has evidence Trump was a participant in the scheme. Months ago, the Justice Department issued grand jury subpoenas to the "fake electors" in multiple states, underscoring prosecutors' interest in the activity.

In June 2023, a criminal grand jury indicted Trump on one count of making "false statements and representations", specifically by hiding subpoenaed classified documents from his own attorney who was trying to find and return them to the government. In August 2023, 21 of Trump's falsehoods about the 2020 election were listed in his Washington, D.C. criminal indictment, and 27 were listed in his Georgia criminal indictment.

Inciting or aiding an insurrection

The House Jan. 6 committee on December 20, 2022, urged the Justice Department to consider prosecuting former President Donald Trump for inciting or aiding an insurrection, among other crimes. The committee's referrals to the Justice Department carry no legal weight, but the focus now shifts to the Justice Department and whether it will concur that the evidence is sufficient for prosecution.

The inclusion of this statute represents an attempt by the committee to hold Trump accountable for the riot itself—not only for his actions but for his inaction, too. Under the statute, Trump need not have coordinated with supporters to carry out a rebellion. Instead, one could violate the statute simply by aiding an insurrection or giving comfort to those participating in it.

Trump was impeached by the House, though later acquitted by the Senate, on a charge of incitement after the attack on the Capitol. Some legal experts have questioned whether the Justice Department could successfully prosecute Trump for inciting the insurrection based on a speech he gave at the Ellipse that preceded the riot. In that address, he encouraged the crowd to "fight like hell" but also told them to proceed "peacefully and patriotically" to the Capitol.

The committee says Trump summoned rioters to Washington on January 6 with the goal of mobilizing a large crowd of supporters. In fact, some of the accused rioters charged by the Justice Department have cited Trump's tweets encouraging them to come as their inspiration. Once they were inside the building, the committee notes, Trump showed no concern when they chanted "Hang Mike Pence!" and for hours, the president resisted the pleas of advisers who told him to tell the rioters to disperse.

The committee's final recommendations urge Congress to reform criminal statutes to include harsher penalties for those involved in obstructing a joint session of Congress and the peaceful transition of power.

In a separate case, a federal appeals court ruled on December 1, 2023, that lawsuits against Trump over the Capitol riot can move forward, rejecting the former president's bid to dismiss the cases accusing him of inciting the violent mob on January 6, 2021. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit court knocked down Trump's sweeping claims that presidential immunity shields him from liability in the lawsuits brought by Democratic lawmakers and police officers.

The decision underscores the challenges facing Trump as he tries to persuade courts, and potentially juries, that the actions he took in the run-up to the riot were part of his official duties as president. The judge presiding over his Capitol riot criminal trial is expected to also reject that claim.

While courts have afforded presidents broad immunity for their official acts, the judges made clear that protection does not cover just any act or speech undertaken by a president. A president running for a second term, for example, is not carrying out the official duties of the presidency when speaking at a rally funded by his reelection campaign or attending a private fundraiser, the appeals court said.

The House Jan. 6 committee report finds that Trump's desire to overturn the results of a lawful and legitimate election was the driving factor in the unprecedented attack on the Capitol. The report includes criminal referrals to the U.S. Department of Justice for four counts against Trump, including inciting, assisting, or aiding an insurrection. It is the first time in U.S. history a congressional body has recommended criminally charging—and not simply impeaching—a former president.

The committee has no power to actually bring criminal charges, and the Justice Department has not said how it will proceed, though Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Special Counsel Jack Smith to investigate.

Special Counsel Jack Smith considered charging Trump with insurrection but ultimately decided against it, citing the narrowness of the law and the lack of direct evidence of Trump explicitly calling for violence. Smith's report, released in January 2025, explains that the framers of the law simply didn't contemplate a sitting president trying to use the vast powers of the federal government to reverse the outcome of an election.

Violating the Federal Election Campaign Act

In 2023, former US President Donald Trump was indicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to conceal payments made to the pornographic film actress Stormy Daniels as hush money to buy her silence over a sexual encounter between them. The total payments made to Daniels amounted to $420,000.

The Manhattan District Attorney, Alvin Bragg, accused Trump of falsifying these business records with the intent to commit other crimes, including the violation of federal campaign finance limits and unlawfully influencing the 2016 US presidential election.

In his instructions to the jury, Judge Juan Merchan explained that for the charges to be felonies, the jury must show that Trump falsified records to cover a second crime. In this case, the second crime could be a violation of the Federal Election Campaign Act, meaning that the hush money payment to Daniels was a contribution to Trump's campaign that exceeded the legal limit.

Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty to campaign finance crimes in conjunction with the payment in 2018, stating that they constituted an illegal campaign contribution. Cohen testified that he made the payment at Trump's direction and that it was done to boost Trump's chances in the 2016 election.

The jury found Trump guilty on all 34 counts, making him the first former US president to be convicted of a felony.

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