Here is the article:
President-elect Donald Trump, President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden, and billionaire Tesla founder Elon Musk were among the well-known political figures who were ordered to court in 2024. The year saw a flurry of election-related lawsuits play out in swing states across the country, the winding down special counsel Jack Smith’s investigations into the president-elect, and a July Supreme Court decision that expanded the view of presidential immunity, among many other things.
One of the top political courtroom moments of 2024 was the trial of President-elect Donald Trump, who was found guilty by a Manhattan jury in April on 34 charges of falsifying business records stemming from payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels. Trump’s sentencing hearing was delayed several times, including after the 2024 election and his status as the presumptive Republican Party presidential nominee.
Trump’s victory in November added further pressure on Manhattan Judge Juan Merchan to dismiss the charges. Last week, Merchan granted Trump’s request to file a motion to dismiss the charges, giving the president-elect’s legal team until December 2 to submit the motion for dismissal, and giving Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and his team of prosecutors until December 9 to respond.
Another notable case was the trial of Hunter Biden, which centered on whether he made false statements in his 2018 purchase of a firearm. A jury found Hunter guilty on all charges, and the trial laid bare some personal family moments, including the testimony of Hunter’s daughter, Naomi Biden, as well as several ex-girlfriends.
Elon Musk was also in the spotlight, as he was sued by Philadelphia’s top prosecutor, Larry Krasner, over a pro-Trump PAC’s $1 million daily giveaways to swing state voters. The case was eventually dropped, with Musk’s legal team admitting that there was no prize to be won and that winners were not chosen at random.
Overall, 2024 saw a flurry of election-related lawsuits, with many of the most high-profile cases centered in swing states. While some of these cases made headlines, none ultimately had a significant impact on the outcome of the election.