Trump Trial: Current Position

Angie Kidder

This November is the presidential election, and it seems as though it’ll be a rematch between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. But one event that could change the course of this year’s election results is how Trump was found guilty in his hush-money case in Manhattan this week. This makes him the first former president to face prosecution in American history.

The trial was centered around the hush-money payment to Stormy Daniels in 2016, after she and Trump allegedly had an affair in 2006, although Trump denies it. This payment was made by Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, whose testimony is crucial to the prosecution’s argument. Trump was found guilty of all 34 counts he was charged with, 11 of them related to the invoices from Cohen, 11 related to the falsified checks and 12 on the falsified ledger entries.

Although a hush-money payment is not inherently illegal, what makes it a crime is the fact that the payment to Michael Cohen and later to Daniels was classified as “legal expenses and cited a work-for-hire contract”—neither of which are true. Because of the actions made by the former president, he was found guilty on 34 counts of falsification of business records. The prosecution has also brought up other hush-money payments made by Trump not in connection with Stormy Daniels, most likely as a way to prove a second crime to strengthen their argument.

Cohen was on the stand for four days, ending on Monday, May 20. As Cohen was under cross-examination, he gave two accounts of crucial meetings to the prosecution’s defense. The first encounter mentioned was from January 2017, when Trump officially approved the action to falsify the record of payments. The second took place in the Oval Office when Trump confirmed the hush-money payments to Cohen, and told him that Cohen would soon be receiving checks from him to reimburse the money. Cohen eventually received 420,000 dollars in payments from Trump, covering the money spent from the interaction with Stormy Daniels, a bonus for Cohen and additional money for tax. This is a key factor in the prosecution’s case and could have contributed to Trump being found guilty of the offenses.  

In order for Trump to be convicted, the prosecution had to prove that Trump falsified the business records for political reasons. In this case, the payment was made to Stormy Daniels days before the 2016 Presidential Election. Now that Trump has been convicted on all 34 counts of falsifying business records, Trump could potentially face jail time, as each count carries the possibility of up to four years in prison. He is set to be sentenced July 11th, 2024. However, since he is considered to be a first time offender to the court and the crime was non-violent, he is more likely to be given fines and a probation. Trump is most likely to appeal the verdict, which could take months (or even longer) to play out.

Trump will still be able to run for president, regardless of whether he is convicted of committing a crime. This is because there is nothing stated in the constitution that a convict cannot run for president. Since the U.S. constitution also states qualifications to run for president, it is unclear whether or not states can create limits to this.

The updates on this case are rapidly changing every day, and the public is poised to keep an eye out for what happens next.