The United States has never seen a former president of the nation face criminal charges. Until now. Former President Donald Trump has just been indicted by a Manhattan grand jury, becoming the first person in the history of the world’s No. 1 power to serve as leader and then be charged with a crime. Let’s review what has happened and what repercussions it may have both for Trump’s career and for the upcoming presidential elections.
Accused of criminal charges. Trump has been accused by the judicial body for his participation in paying money to silence a porn star, according to people with knowledge of the case to The New York Times. It would be a separate point in US history that will shake the foundations of the 2024 presidential race and would leave Trump as the first former president to face criminal charges, a total of 30 related to commercial fraud.
What will happen now? Trump will most likely turn himself in next week, at which time authorities will photograph him behind closed doors and take his fingerprints. He will then be prosecuted and the specific charges disclosed. At that reading, a judge will determine whether Trump can post bail or abide by certain restrictions pending trial, or whether he could be released on parole.
what he is acussed? Shortly after Trump began his run to become president, in the 2015 campaign, the former president invited his lawyers to a meeting at Trump Tower, in which it was agreed to look for stories that could damage his candidacy and reputation. At that meeting it was also decided to make a payment of 130,000 euros to Stormy Daniels, an adult film actress, to prevent her from speaking publicly about an affair that she said she had with Trump years before and that he has always denied.
The money was given to Trump’s personal attorney, Michael Cohen, who secretly gave it to Daniels. According to court documents in the federal indictment itself, Trump’s lawyers authorized payments totaling 420,000 euros to cover the original payment of 130,000 and tax obligations and rewarded him with a bonus. They then wrote the refunds as a legal expense in his internal books.
And what does that mean? Falsifying business records is a crime in New York. And that is where the prosecutors will support themselves. But for it to be considered a felony and not a misdemeanor, they must prove that Trump’s fraud is linked to a second crime. And that could be a violation of electoral law. That is, they have to build a case arguing that the payment to Daniels represented an illegal contribution to the Trump campaign to help his candidacy.
Could I go to jail? This is what we all wonder. If the crime is serious but low level, under New York State law, it is punishable by up to four years in prison. But the charges are often lowered, and it is highly unusual for someone without a criminal record to be sentenced to jail for a crime that is not violent. But beyond that, the fact that he goes to trial, that could really sink Trump. And more in a city where many hate him. In addition, that the process is prolonged only leads to one thing: that the trial tarnishes the 2024 presidential campaign.
What will happen to the elections? As it was quite obvious, Trump has already called on his supporters to make noise about his arrest. He has also denied any affair with porn star Stormy Daniels. In fact, he has issued a statement after learning of the accusation alleging that it is “political persecution and electoral interference at the highest level in history”. “I think this witch hunt will backfire on Joe Biden,” he said. And all of this takes the 2024 presidential election to another level.
On the other hand, it is also true that something that would normally mean the de facto collapse of a candidate could even serve Trump to make him a political martyr. He already warned a few months ago that he would not abandon the race if they accused him. He could even use the accusation to re-motivate his supporters into a wave of protests, as happened with the storming of the Capitol in 2020.
It is not the first time that Trump has been accused. Trump has avoided various civil lawsuits over the years and got away with them all. As president, he was twice impeached by the Democratic-led House but avoided condemnation by the Senate. In December, the Trump Organization was convicted on multiple counts of tax fraud, though Trump was not charged. And now, the prosecution’s indictment may not be the last. A separate federal investigation and a Georgia prosecutor are looking into Trump’s attempts to reverse the election results in that state.
Image: Leah Millis (Reuters)
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