The former President of the United States, Donald Trump was indicted on March 20, 2023, for paying adult film star, Stormy Daniels, six figures worth of hush money to keep quiet about their affair. Additionally, on April 6th, he was arraigned and charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.

Alvin Bragg is the district attorney who is currently presiding over this indictment in Manhattan, New York. Due to the political nature of this case, he is presently facing a lot of scrutiny from several members of the Republican party. Despite this, he still plans to follow through with the indictment. If convicted, Trump would be the first President of the United States to face criminal charges.

Background 

In 2016, Trump paid Daniels over $100,000 to keep her quiet about the affair. The real cause for concern is that the payment was made during his election campaign, which raises the very pertinent question of whether he falsified business records to further his campaign. This would be a major violation of campaign finance laws and could cause further legal issues for Trump.

Possible Outcomes 

While it is still unclear whether or not Trump will be found guilty, we can look at Michael Cohen’s case from 2018, to give clues about the future of Trump’s case. Cohen pleaded guilty to “brazen violations of the election laws,” as well as other charges in a plea agreement with the

Manhattan attorney office, the same attorney office that has now charged Trump. 

This resulted in Cohen being sentenced to prison for 36 months for committing the same violations that Trump is now being charged with. According to “Forbes” magazine, “his attorneys have said he will plead not guilty.” The significance of this indictment cannot be understated; events like this challenge the legitimacy of our electoral college and make the public question whether the people we put in power are up to par. The fact that he is being indicted represents a criminal justice system that views the president as a constitution-abiding citizen as well as a member of the neighboring legal branch. Both sides of the political spectrum will have their own opinions about the matter, however, the topic of controversy extends to the people, including Redwood students and staff. 

Redwood’s Perspective

Although the news is portraying this as a major event that will go down in the history of the U.S. both politically and criminally, the Redwood Government and Economics teacher, David Plecsia has a more patient approach.

Plescia states, “We’ll know more as time unravels of where this [indictment] stands historically. In the moment, some things can seem so overwhelmingly huge and unbelievable. But then, as we stand back and look at history, it then begins to teach us through a lens of how impactful something [really] was,” On the other hand, Sophomore Site Council Representative, Charlie Scott, believes that it is important for students to stay informed regardless of the outcome. 

“Not only is President Trump a past president, but he’s also a potential candidate for the upcoming election in 2024, for which, a lot of Redwood students will be voters. And so, for them to know that one of the candidates has these charges against him and has been indicted, it’s important to be aware [of current events] in politics, especially when you’re going to be [someone] who is deciding who is going to be the next president of the United States,” Scott said. 

While this is all very unprecedented, there is still a lot unknown about this case. Further information will be revealed during the trial in December.