Trump speaking at a rally. Brittany Greenson for The New York Times.
Trump speaking at a rally. Brittany Greenson for The New York Times.

This story makes history as Donald Trump becomes the first former US president to be faced with criminal charges. People are buzzing around asking all sorts of questions about what an indictment is, what it means for the former president, and how it will affect his upcoming election. We are here to answer all your questions and give you the facts about the Trump indictment and what it means for citizens throughout the nation. 

Many people are unfamiliar with the word “indict” but it has been said on almost every news platform in the last couple of weeks. When someone is indicted, it means that they are given formal notice of what crimes they are thought to have committed and are arrested to await trial. The crimes Mr. Trump has been presented with by a New York court are associated with him allegedly paying hush money to his supposed affair partner, Stormy Daniels. While Trump denies the affair and payoff, Daniels claims Michael Cohen, Trump’s lawyer, paid her $130,000 just days before the 2016 election to stay quiet. While paying hush money to someone is not illegal, it has been found that the reimbursement of the payoffs was categorized under legal fees and thus can fall under the criminal category of falsifying business and financial records. 

However, the payoff controversy with Daniels is not the only charge being held against Trump. Currently, the former president is faced with 34 felony charges of falsifying business records including two additional payoffs. While the falsification of business records is not normally a huge deal in New York courts, this has become a larger issue since the money, in question, was used to enhance his election. This misuse of funds becomes a minor felony in NY.

While prosecutors argue that Trump committed these crimes to boost his public appeal and tamper with the 2016 election, Republicans argue that the indictment is a “political witch hunt” and is unfair to continue with entirely. They further argue that finding an impartial jury on which to judge the case would be next to impossible as almost all-American citizens know who Trump is and thus have their own opinions about him. All this aside, Trump’s next court appearance will happen on December 4th of 2023. Even if convicted, Trump will still be able to run for President in 2024. More details to come as additional information becomes available regarding the case and next steps.   

Work Cited 

“7 Things to Know about Trump’s Indictment in New York so Far.” PBS NewsHour, 31 Mar. 2023, https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/7-things-to-know-about-trumps-indictment-in-new-york-so-far.

Bennett, Brandon, and Anisha Kohli. “Trump’s Indictment: All Your Questions Answered.” Time, 5 Apr. 2023, https://time.com/longform/trump-stormy-daniels-indictment-arraignment/.

Bubalo, Mattea, and Robin Levinson King. “What Happened between Stormy Daniels and Donald Trump?” BBC News, 4 Apr. 2023, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64920037.

Cole, Devan, and Sydney Kashiwagi. “Donald Trump Has Been Indicted Following an Investigation into a Hush Money Payment Scheme. Here’s What We Know | CNN Politics.” CNN, 31 Mar. 2023, https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/31/politics/trump-indictment-what-to-know/index.html.

U.S. Attorneys | Charging | United States Department of Justice. 7 Nov. 2014, https://www.justice.gov/usao/justice-101/charging.