On Tuesday, April 4, former president Donald J. Trump was prosecuted in Manhattan after being charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. Trump is pleading not guilty to all accounts. This is the first time in history a former American President has faced criminal charges. 

According to a report made by the New York Times, “The charges are related to reimbursements to Mr. Trump’s former fixer, Michael D. Cohen, for a hush-money payment to Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign.” Furthermore, the case revolves around hush money payments that Trump’s previous lawyer made to silence an adult filmmaker. 

The payment was used to prevent the adult filmmaker, Ms. Daniels, from exposing Trump’s affair during his campaign, in 2016. Ms. Daniels’s representatives were looking to publish her story; however, according to The New York Times, “David Pecker, the tabloid’s publisher and a longtime ally of Mr. Trump, had agreed to look out for potentially damaging stories about him during the 2016 campaign, and at one point even agreed to buy the story of another woman’s affair with Mr. Trump and never publish it…” It was later discovered that Pecker never actually bought the story from Ms. Daniels. Instead, Pecker and the tabloid’s top editor Dylan Howard agreed on a deal between Mr. Cohen and Ms. Daniels’s lawyer. 

Currently, the legal process will continue to build the case as prosecutors work to convince the Jury the former president is guilty and Trump and his legal team will continue to persuade the jury he is innocent. Juror Juan Merchan gave Trump and his team a deadline, August 8, to file motions to dismiss the case or request a new judge. This is a long process that could take months or years. Trump’s attorney Joe Tacopina told The Washington Post that he didn’t anticipate anything being filed until July.

As for the future election, Trump still can run for a second term. There is nothing in the constitution preventing someone convicted of a crime, or indicted for the matter, to run for president. His campaign continues as well as the indictment.