While Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial grabs the headlines this week, the former President is facing a number of other post–White House woes that could be even more damaging to him, both legally and financially.
On the legal front, Fulton County, Ga., prosecutors said on Wednesday that they had opened a criminal investigation into “attempts to influence” Georgia’s administration of the 2020 general election. While prosecutors did not explicitly name Trump in announcing the investigation, the probe is believed to involve his documented attempts to pressure Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” the votes needed to win the state, which President Joe Biden carried by nearly 12,000 ballots.
Trump also publicly pressured Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and reportedly contacted other state officials to investigate the former President’s baseless allegations of voter fraud and overturn the state’s election results in his favor. In letters to Raffensperger, Kemp, and other Georgia officials, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis asked that they preserve all documents and records related to the election and any attempts to influence it.
The newly launched Georgia investigation adds to Trump’s existing legal woes in New York, where both the state’s attorney general and Manhattan’s district attorney are pursuing fraud investigations related to Trump and his businesses. While the former has launched a civil probe into Trump’s business dealings, the latter’s case could lead to criminal charges.
Meanwhile, this week has also seen reports that more of Trump’s business partners are trying to distance themselves from the former President. On Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reported that real estate investment firm Vornado Realty Trust is looking to exit its partnerships with the Trump Organization, including those at two prime office buildings located in Midtown Manhattan and San Francisco’s Financial District.
Vornado is run by noted real estate investor Steven Roth, a longtime friend of Trump’s who advised the former President during his time in the White House. But the firm is reportedly concerned that Trump’s association with the properties have hindered attempts to find new buyers and lenders for the assets.
Vornado’s retreat could further exacerbate Trump’s business woes. His company’s leisure- and hospitality-focused properties have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, and other business partners have already moved to cut ties with Trump following last month’s storming of the Capitol. Additionally, in the next few years the Trump Organization must repay more than $400 million in loans used to finance properties including Trump Tower in Manhattan, the Trump National Doral Miami golf resort in Florida, and the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C.
Between the various legal and financial obstacles now facing Trump in postpresidential life, his impeachment trial—which seems likely to end in another acquittal—may be the least of his problems.
