By PRFSU Writers 2023-2024 
Photo Credit: Mike Segar/Reuters
Grant Golin
A Manhattan grand jury voted to indict former President Donald Trump on Thursday for falsifying business records relating to hush-money payments to an adult film star toward the end of the 2016 presidential campaign. The indictment comes following Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation into the matter. Trump’s former attorney, Michael Cohen, was the key witness in the investigation. It marks the first time that an American president, current or former, has been charged with a crime. The sealed indictment reportedly includes more than 30 counts against Trump.
It is expected that Trump will surrender to the Manhattan district attorney on Tuesday for his arraignment. Federal, state, and local law enforcement officials are currently conducting a security threat assessment for potential unrest and preparing for the logistics of Trump’s arrest. When he is processed, he will be fingerprinted and then appear before a judge in Lower Manhattan’s Criminal Courts Building.
Trump and his allies claim that the indictment is politically motivated as he campaigns for president again. He has called for his supporters to protest the indictment. This has also coincided with an increase in threats made against the Manhattan district attorney. As a precaution, metal barricades have been erected around the court building and there is an increased police presence in Manhattan ahead of Trump’s arraignment.
An attorney representing Trump in the matter has stated that Trump will not accept a plea deal, indicating that the case will likely go to a trial. This means that the trial would be ongoing as Trump also runs for president. It is important to note that the indictment or a potential trial might not necessarily lead to a conviction of the former president. The unprecedented nature of this indictment suggests that the American legal and political systems will be strained like never before.
Trump’s Other Legal Woes
Trump is simultaneously facing legal peril in special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into the mishandling of hundreds of classified and top secret documents taken to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach. U.S. Judge Beryl Howell, the judge overseeing the grand jury in this case, wrote that Smith has provided sufficient evidence that Trump had committed crimes and lied to his lawyers. She also forced M. Evan Corcoran, one of the former president’s lawyers, to turn over documents to prosecutors and testify before a grand jury due to the crime-fraud exception. The crime-fraud exception states that attorney-client privilege does not apply if legal advice was used to commit a crime.
Additionally, Judge Howell ruled that former Trump administration officials must testify in special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election and his role in the January 6, 2021 insurrection in the U.S. Capitol Building. Following Howell’s retirement, Judge James E. Boasberg, her successor, ruled that former Vice President Mike Pence must also testify on the matter before a grand jury.
The Fulton County district attorney in Georgia is also weighing whether to indict Trump for interfering in the state’s certification of 2020 election results. The special grand jury has already made indictment recommendations, but it is the decision of Fani T. Willis, the Fulton County district attorney, whether or not to pursue charges.
The indictment of former President Trump in Manhattan, as well as the potential for more indictments in special counsel Jack Smith’s investigations and in Fulton County, Georgia, are going to test the rule of law as the nation enters an unparalleled chapter in its history. For the first time, a president of the United States is facing the prospect of multiple prosecutions.