By Jill Colvin|Associated Press

NEW YORK-- For 40 years, former President Donald Trump has actually navigated many legal examinations without ever facing criminal charges. That record might quickly come to an end.

Trump could be indicted by a Manhattan grand jury as soon as this week, possibly charged with falsifying business records linked to hush cash payments throughout his 2016 campaign to women who implicated him of sexual encounters.

It's one of numerous examinations that have magnified as Trump mounts his 3rd presidential run. He has actually denied any accusations of misbehavior and accuses district attorneys of engaging in a politically encouraged "witch hunt" to damage his campaign.

An indictment in New York would mark an amazing turn in American history, making Trump the first former president to face a criminal charge. And it would carry incredible weight for Trump himself, threatening his long-established capability to avoid effects despite entanglement in a dizzying number of cases.

Indictment, states biographer Michael D'Antonio, would be a "stunning event, both due to the fact that of the fact that a former president is being indicted for the very first time, however likewise due to the fact that one of the slipperiest people at the greatest level of service, whose devotion to abusing the system is so well developed, is being caught."

" Throughout his life, he has done things for which he might have been investigated and potentially prosecuted and learned from those experiences that he could act with impunity," he said.

Trump first faced legal analysis in the 1970s when the Department of Justice brought a racial discrimination case against his family's real estate company.

Trump and his daddy fiercely combated the suit, which implicated them of refusing to rent homes to black renters in primarily white buildings. Testament revealed that applications submitted by prospective black occupants were marked with a "C" for "colored." Trump counter-sued for $100 million, implicating the federal government of defamation.

The case ended with a settlement that opened the way for some black renters but did not require the Trumps to clearly acknowledge they had actually "stopped working and ignored" to adhere to the Fair Housing Act.

Since then, Trump and his companies have actually been the topic of countless various examinations and civil suits. There have actually been probes into his gambling establishment and property negotiations, accusations of bribery and inappropriate lobbying, scams accusations against the now-defunct Trump University and charitable Trump Foundation and a probe by the Manhattan district attorney into sales at the Trump SoHo hotel-condominium in Lower Manhattan.

According Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a government watchdog group abbreviated CREW, as of November 2022, Trump had actually been accused of committing at least 56 criminal offenses because he introduced his project in 2015, not including accusations of deceptive organization transactions. He has actually never ever been formally indicted.

Trump is a master of delay strategies, "finding methods to constantly postpone in the hopes that the examination and litigation will disappear. And he's had exceptional success," says CREW president Noah Bookbinder, a former federal corruption prosecutor.

" It makes responsibility definitely vital due to the fact that we can't have individuals in an operating democracy operating in positions of power with overall impunity where they can dedicate crimes and never ever need to deal with any consequences," he stated.

Trump's retort to such strong talk: He devotes no crimes, so effects would themselves be unjust.

As president, Trump continued to deal with legal analysis. For 2 years, the Justice Department examined his 2016 campaign's ties to Russia. While special counsel Robert Mueller never found direct proof of collusion, his last report did set out proof for obstruction. He noted that, since of a department opinion that disallows indicting a sitting president, he could not recommend Trump be criminally charged, even in secret.

Considering that Trump left workplace, the investigations have actually circled around ever closer.

In January, his name company was fined $1.6 million for tax crimes, including conspiracy and falsifying organization records. The business's longtime executive, Allen Weisselberg, is presently serving prison time as punishment for evading taxes on task perks.

Additional cases are still being pursued. In Georgia, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has actually been examining whether Trump and his allies illegally meddled in the 2020 election.

In Washington, Trump is under analysis from special counsel Jack Smith for his handling-- accusations state mishandling-- of categorized files after leaving office, along with for his much-publicized efforts to remain in power, regardless of his 2020 election loss. Justice Department legal representatives in the files probe have said they have actually generated proof of prospective crimes involving Trump's retention of national defense info as well as potential efforts to obstruct their work.

Some legal specialists have questioned the knowledge of having the Manhattan case be the first brought versus Trump, when more severe charges might be looming. Trump is anticipated to be charged with falsifying organization records, a misdemeanor unless district attorneys can prove it was done to conceal another criminal activity. And the case goes back years.

" Clearly it's not the cleanest criminal case that might be brought of all of them that are existing right now," stated Michael Weinstein, a lawyer and former Justice Department prosecutor, who stated Trump would likely utilize its potential weaknesses to his political advantage.

" By this case coming first, it provides him a opening to go on offense and attack, which for him is the only method he knows," Weinstein stated.

Still, he said the possible charges seemed like a natural culmination of the "astounding array of investigations" the previous president "has endured and fought for the last 40 years."

" There's a history and pattern of him stating and doing things without leading to any repercussions," Weinstein said. "After 40 years, do the criminal chickens come house to roost? He's been fighting a long time, and it could be in the next 12 months he's facing 2 or 3 criminal cases that bring serious criminal liability for him."

The New York case includes payments made by Trump's former legal representative, Michael Cohen, who served prison time after pleading guilty in 2018 to federal charges, to porn star Stormy Daniels and design Karen McDougal. Cohen was reimbursed by Trump, whose business logged the repayments as "legal expenses."

Politically, Trump allies believe the case actually will benefit the former president in the short term by stimulating his base in a competitive Republican main, and would offer another increase in the future if it ultimately fails to yield a conviction.

" The district attorney in New York has done more to assist Donald Trump get elected," says Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., echoing other GOP authorities, who have actually also argued the probe will likely assist Trump in the short term, even if it could prove harmful in a general election.

An indictment would not stop Trump from continuing his campaign. There is no restriction against running while facing criminal charges-- or perhaps following conviction. Convicted felons have actually run for president previously, including from behind bars.
" It knocks one's socks off to think that we have an ex-president on the eve of being indicted still the frontrunner for the Republican Party in 2024," says governmental historian Douglas Brinkley. "You would have thought (possibly) being apprehended would have been a disqualifying factor in presidential politics. Trump continuously surprises individuals by his inappropriate and devious behavior that he goes beyond by turning it into being a victim of a witch hunt."