Trump’s already bad legal troubles are about to get worse

All this could be further complicated should Trump, as expected, announce his third run for the presidency in the coming week. With that declaration nearing, Trump finds himself in a new, more precarious reality — one in which federal and local investigators are closing in on his top allies in at least three criminal probes. The newly reelected New York attorney general is working to dismantle his business empire and the House’s Jan. 6 select committee is about to unload a massive trove of evidence that may advance the criminal cases against him.

Here are the top six takeaways:

Prosecutors unchained

The grand jury investigation into Trump’s effort to subvert the 2020 election went dark in September — but not before a remarkable flourish. FBI investigators uncorked dozens of subpoenas and seized the cell phones of many of Trump’s top allies, working to secure evidence ahead of the Justice Department’s traditional 60-day quiet period before Election Day.

With the voting largely complete, prosecutors are free to take more overt steps to advance their investigation.

Prosecutors have also methodically advanced a grand jury investigation into Trump’s decision to keep sensitive national security documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate after leaving office — and a potential effort to prevent the government from reclaiming them. In recent weeks, they secured the testimony of Kash Patel, a former Trump White House aide who had initially asserted his Fifth Amendment rights in a closed-door grand jury appearance. The Justice Department recently compelled his testimony with a grant of limited immunity though it’s unclear what of value, if anything, Patel has told them.

A similar dynamic is at play in Fulton County, Ga., where District Attorney Fani Willis has investigated Trump’s effort to subvert the election. Her prosecutors have been eager to reach several high-profile witnesses who they had been unable to interview in the weeks preceding the election. Among her first post-election interviews: newly reelected governor, Brian Kemp.

The judge overseeing Willis’ special grand jury rejected her effort to interview Kemp in August amid his reelection campaign but ordered Kemp to testify as soon as possible after the midterms.

In New York, Attorney General Tish James coasted to reelection despite a concerted effort by Trump to promote her Republican rival. Now, James is clear to litigate her extensive lawsuit against Trump’s business empire. A New York judge put Trump’s firms under court oversight last week and Trump’s initial effort to get that order lifted on appeal struck out on Thursday.

Trump’s presidential calculus

Prior to the midterms, Trump seemed poised to swagger into the 2024 midterms, claiming credit for a Republican sweep and declaring himself the all-but-prohibitive frontrunner for the presidency. He had even gone so far as to pick a date for his announcement, teasing a Nov. 15 event at a recent rally in Ohio.

A presidential candidacy could complicate the calculus for prosecutors — particularly those working within a Democratic administration — as they pursue cases against Trump and his allies. The GOP’s…