Donald Trump’s legal battles are far from over

Donald Trump faces a barrage of legal and political challenges now that his impeachment trial is over.

Former President Donald Trump is driven past supporters in West Palm Beach, Florida. Picture: AFP

Donald Trump faces a barrage of legal and political challenges now that his impeachment trial is over as Democrats announced an independent commission to investigate the Capitol riots.

The 9/11-style commission comes as federal prosecutors separately assess whether legal action can be brought against the former president for his role in inciting the riots which left five people dead.

It also comes as Mr Trump faces three other legal cases, with New York prosecutors overseeing a criminal investigation into his business dealings as well as a civil inquiry into possible financial fraud.

In Georgia, the former president is also defending a criminal investigation into alleged election interference by Mr Trump to overturn the election result in that state.

Mr Trump remains defiant in the face of the challenges, refusing to accept responsibility for the Capitol riots and hinting at a possible run for president again in 2024.

In Florida, Mr Trump greeted supporters with a drive-by outside his Mara-Lago resort on Tuesday (AEDT), a day after the Senate acquitted him on the impeachment charge of inciting an insurrection.

Mr Trump is also reportedly planning his first major press conference this week since he left the White House.

Although the impeachment trial is over, Congressional Democrats have signalled a raft of further inquiries into Mr Trump’s role in the riots.

Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Tuesday (AEDT) the new independent commission would “investigate and report on the facts and causes relating to the January 6, 2021, domestic terrorist attack upon the United States Capitol Complex … and relating to the interference with the peaceful transfer of power.”

“It is clear from his findings and from the impeachment trial that we must get to the truth of how this happened,” Ms Pelosi said in a letter to her Democrat colleagues.

She also said House Democrats would push for more spending on security at the Capitol building.

Separate Senate hearings into the January 6 riots are already planned with the Senate Rules Committee set to hold hearings later this month.

Federal prosecutors are also poring over evidence in the riots to see whether a legal case should be brought against Mr Trump, who is now a private citizen.

However the legal standard for a case against Mr Trump would be difficult to reach, including if he is sued by rioters. He can potentially defend himself by arguing that he acted while carrying out the duties of president. He can also base any defence on the grounds that the First Amendment protects freedom of speech.

Any successful legal case against Mr Trump would have to prove that he intended to incite the crowd when he addressed them outside the White House shortly before they stormed the Capitol.

“They’re way too early in their investigation to know,” Laurie Levenson, a law professor at Loyola Law School and former federal prosecutor was quoted as saying. “They have arrested 200 people, they’re pursuing hundreds more, all of those people could be potential witnesses because some have said ‘Trump made me do it’.”

Mr Trump’s former White House lawyers have warned him that he may face legal liability for his role in the riots, and the former president has reportedly been concerned about the issue.

The most serious immediate legal challenge to the former president is in New York where Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance is conducting an 18 month criminal grand jury investigation into Mr Trump’s business dealings.

This includes the alleged payment of hush money to women who allege having affairs with Mr Trump and also a probe into whether Mr Trump or his businesses manipulated the value of assets to secure better loan terms and tax benefits.

A separate civil case against him in New York is also examining whether fraudulent asset values were declared for financial gain.

In Georgia, the district attorney of Fulton County, Fani Willis, is overseeing an investigation into whether Mr Trump led a pressure campaign to overturn the election results in that state.

Mr Trump repeatedly claimed that he won the traditionally Republican state, despite recounts and declarations by the state’s Republican officials that the count was accurate and that Joe Biden won.

The investigation is likely to centre around a call between Mr Trump and Georgia’s secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, during which Mr Trump asked him to “find” votes to reverse Mr Biden’s narrow victory.