Understanding Trump’s Arrest
President Donald Trump sits in the middle of his defense in Manhattan court, Source for Picture: NBC
On April 4th, Former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 felony charges for falsifying business records. So what happened and what does this mean?
Donald Trump faces 34 felony counts in relation to a hush money scandal in which Stormy Daniels, a high profile porn star, was paid $130,000 before the 2016 election. This is the first time in United States history that a former president has been indicted on criminal charges.
History of investigation
Donald Trump and Stormy Daniels met in 2006 and kept in touch until a decade later when the Trump campaign was concerned about news of the alleged affair leaking. Due to the fear of Daniels speaking out and hurting Trump’s campaign, the campaign staff had Michael Cohen, Trump’s right-hand man, pay Daniels $130,000 in hush money. Daniels kept quiet until a 2018 federal investigation into Michael Cohen led to the discovery of the payment as an illegal donation to the Trump campaign. Cohen pleaded guilty to all charges associated with the hush money and placed the blame on Trump. This ultimately revealed that Trump reimbursed Cohen for the money, but as a precedent, a sitting president cannot be indicted, so the federal investigation came to an end. After the closing of this investigation, the Manhattan District Attorney opened another, separate investigation into Trump’s business practices. This resulted in the formation of a grand jury in January of 2023 and an indictment by this grand jury in late March 2023.
For Trump, being under investigation is nothing new, as he has been under investigation for the past 45 years since his time as a young real estate developer. Trump has developed a strategy of delaying legal issues, so the trial could be pushed well into 2024, meaning the former president will be amidst the trial during his presidential campaign. The real drama will be in the upcoming months in the trial, as the courts have never faced a case like this. If Trump is convicted he could face up to four years in prison, but he could also be elected president, as the Constitution does not require a presidential candidate-elect to have a clean criminal record to hold the presidency. Since this case is unprecedented, there is not an outline or timeline for how sentencing Trump would work if he was convicted and elected.
What are the actual charges?
Trump was charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the first degree and pleaded not guilty on April 4th in his arraignment. In order to be a felony, these charges have to be covering up another crime, but we are not sure what the underlying charges are. Some are speculating that the secondary charges are related to campaign finance violations.
What does this mean for the Republican Party?
On March 18th, Donald Trump posted that he would be arrested on March 21st. This post was a likely projection of his anxiety around the situation and a way to control the narrative and media attention by projecting his power. The Republican party was trying to stay away from Trump, as he hurt the party during the midterms. After this post, the party was forced to attend to the pull Trump has on voters. Trump’s claim of being arrested forced the Republican party to figure out how to act, as Trump is their leading presidential candidate for 2024. The response from the Republican party can be split into two categories: those who defend Trump because they support him and believe the indictment is wrong and those who are not loyal to Trump but feel the need to defend him because they fear crossing him.
Trump has created a normality that any actions to hold him accountable are “weaponing the justice system.” Trump’s indictment is making it harder for the Republican party to push him aside in the 2024 presidential election, as it is creating sympathy among voters for the former president. The former president even has potential opponents supporting him such as Mike Pence denouncing the indictment, which is not normal in the political sphere.