For the first time in America’s 247-year history, a president of the United States was indicted. His criminal case has been evolving since March 25, 2023. So, let’s break it down: here is what is happening with former President Donald Trump.
What is Trump charged with?
Throughout the past five months, federal prosecutors charged Trump with four separate criminal cases in Washington D.C., Georgia, New York, and Florida, with a total of 91 felony counts.
Charges concerning Washington D.C.:
In our nation’s Capital, Trump was charged with four felony counts for inciting insurrection on Jan. 6, 2020. The charges, implemented through what is known as the Federal Election Interference Case, are a result of Trump and his advisor’s efforts to spread misinformation surrounding his self-claimed voter fraud and undermine current President Joe Biden’s electoral victory.
Trump urged former Vice President, Mike Pence to throw out the election results which ultimately incited a riot of his supporters who stormed the United States Capitol building in a mob-like fashion to try and disrupt the peaceful transfer of presidential power. Two of Trump’s charges in this case relate to the disruption of Congresses’ electoral vote certification. One charge accuses Trump of creating a conspiracy aiming to deprive citizens of their natural right to vote and have their vote counted. The remaining charge accuses Trump of establishing a scheme to defraud the United States government by impeding the collection, counting, and certification of votes in the 2020 presidential election.
Charges concerning Georgia:
Trump is charged with 13 felony counts for trying to interfere with Georgia’s election results. Within this specific swing state, in which Biden secured a narrow win, Trump spread lies relating to voter fraud. Additionally, he called former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, asking him to “find” the number of votes necessary to secure his win in the state, urged Georgia lawmakers to reverse Biden’s win, and even plotted to send fake electors to Washington, D.C.
Charges concerning New York:
Trump faces 34 felony counts as a result of hush money payments he made to a porn star. Within this case, known as the “Hush Money Case,” Trump has been accused of making false statements on documents to pay off porn star Stormy Daniels. Supposedly, she was paid $130,000 in Oct. of 2016 to remain silent about her claimed sexual encounter with the former president. This payment was made to prevent any tarnishing of Trump’s reputation in such a critical phase of the election. While simply paying this woman is not illegal, Trump is accused of hiding the payments as legal expenses, which violates New York law and has led to him receiving 34 felony counts.
Charges concerning Florida:
Trump faces 40 felony counts for hoarding government documents after he left office and interfering with the government’s effort to retrieve them. Trump was also accused of holding highly sensitive national security documents in his multi-million dollar Mar-a-Lago resort and attempting to prevent the government from retrieving them. Additionally, there have been two instances where he showed classified documents to people who did not have clearance. Trump’s lawyers swore he did not have any government materials, but, in 2022, the FBI searched the former president’s Mar-a-Lago home and seized 102 total documents.
So… did Trump go to jail?
Since Trump has been indicted four times, he has had to surrender himself to authorities for every case. When being booked in Washington D.C., New York, and Florida, Trump received special treatment, and he was spared a booking photo or interaction with other criminal defendants. However, he received no such privilege in the state of Georgia, resulting in his infamous mug shot when he was booked at Fulton County Jail. However, the president was not kept in a holding cell and left the jail premises within 20 minutes of his arrival.
Will Trump go to jail?
Currently, the former president has only been indicted, and none of the four cases have gone to trial, so it is unknown what the outcome will be. Technically, the president faces a maximum of 717.5 years due to all of his felonies within the four states. However, due to his high profile and the unique nature of his cases, it is unlikely Trump will face life in prison, but legal experts claim the Department of Justice has a strong case, so Trump facing some jail time is not completely off the table.
Can Trump be president again?
As of right now, Trump is still eligible to run for and serve as the next president of the United States. Even if Trump is convicted of a felony, no legal restrictions would theoretically prevent him from acting as president. However, the states of Colorado and Maine have recently ruled that the former president would not be on their 2024 ballot in large part because of his legal history. Their decision is supported by the fact that his action violates the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution, which claims that no officer of the United States can incite insurrection. However, Trump remains on the ballot of those two states as it will soon be up to the Supreme Court to determine if this ruling is valid.
What now?
Americans must now wait to observe the results of the Supreme Court’s ruling and Trump’s upcoming trials. It is incredibly unclear what his fate in this country will be, but he has already made history as the only former president to be criminally indicted, proving to this nation that there truly is a first time for everything.
