For the first time ever in American history, a former president has been indicted on criminal charges.
Donald Trump, the television star turned pseudo-politician, is facing 91 felony charges across four trials pertaining to the catastrophic insurrection of January 6, hush money paid to Stormy Daniels with whom he had an affair while married to his current spouse Melania Trump, confidential documents that the former president was hiding at Mar-a-Lago and his involvement in attempts to overturn the election in Georgia.
These investigations are far different from those of Donald Trump’s two impeachments, which also set records, as he was the first president to have ever been impeached twice. But these cases are far more extreme as President Trump is a clear and present danger to national security.
Arguably the most notable trial that the public is the most informed of is the January 6 riot. Donald Trump, the losing candidate of the 2020 election, rather than giving a concession speech swiftly and professionally, spoke to his supporters urging them to “[march] over to the Capitol building” and “fight like hell.”
Donald Trump’s lawyers, scrambling to prove his innocence among the unprecedented charges, have argued that this speech was not a legitimate call for violence and riot. Following this speech, the swarm of angry Trump voters did exactly as he commanded. They marched from the location of the speech former President Trump gave them and protested at the base of the Capitol building. As these protests were becoming more and more violent, police clashed with rioters who were attempting to make their way into the Capitol in order to stop the confirmation of Joe Biden’s victory. With thousands of armed rioters making their way in any possible way they could, including but not limited to shattering windows and breaking down doors, panic ensued among Congresspeople as chants for their public executions arose.
Throughout the catastrophe that took place on January 6, Donald Trump allegedly sat by and watched the events unfold on television surrounded by his advisors and family who urged him to make a statement to stop the mob of his supporters and to call for peace—a request that was repeatedly denied—thus putting much of the blame on President Trump for allowing his supporters to threaten democracy with such force.
Following the announcement of Joe Biden’s victory, Donald Trump claimed in a taped call that he wanted to find more votes in order to win the election that he had already lost. Pressuring Georgia’s Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, former President Trump stated “I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have,” an obviously outrageous string of words to be heard from any elected official, let alone the Commander in Chief.
By feeding into this “Big Lie,” Donald Trump continuously threatened the very existence of American democracy by spewing mistruths and making incredibly illegal requests such as this, all being unprecedented and entirely out of line for the President of the United States. Led by Fulton County District Attorney, Trump faces 13 felony counts, with all 19 defendants having turned themselves in and been booked at the Fulton County Jail. Trump was released on a $20,000 bond, along with nearly all of the other defendants being released on bonds that went up to $100,000.
Moving forward is yet another trial Mr. Trump is facing, that of the documents that he hid in his Florida residence, Mar-a-Lago.
President Trump was recorded saying “these are the papers,” referring to Pentagon plans to attack Iran during his presidency. This, obviously being property of the US government, is once again unprecedented behavior for the president of the United States in the most horrific way imaginable.
Mr. Trump went on to refer to these documents as “highly confidential,” which he said in a manner that seems incredibly childish as if only to boost his own ego. For the mishandling of highly classified documents, President Trump is facing 37 felony counts, all of which he has pled not guilty to.
The final trial that Donald Trump is facing is surrounding hush money payments he made regarding an alleged affair with adult actress Stormy Daniels.
While married to his current spouse who had just given birth, it has been alleged that Mr. Trump had an extra-marital affair with Stormy Daniels who accepted $130,000 in hush money payments from Mr. Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen. Cohen was later jailed for lying under oath to a congressional committee about the possible construction of a Trump Tower in Moscow.
This encounter is not only incredibly immoral on the part of President Trump but has found him facing 34 felony counts with a trial set for March of next year.
While it is pleasing to see the former president’s long history of crimes he thought he had gotten away with finally catch up to him, at the same time it is incredibly disheartening to know that this vile man was once the leader of the free world. To think that Mr. Trump fooled millions of people into voting for him, claiming that he was the one who would right all the wrongs Americans were facing seems impossible, but even more mind-boggling is the amount of support he believes that he still has.
Donald Trump’s narcissism has blinded him to the fact that he is losing support by the day.
According to POLITICO, the vast majority of Americans believe that the Justice Department is being fair regarding Mr. Trump’s trial, with 59% of respondents agreeing with this statement. Similarly, more than half of Americans believe Trump will be found guilty, with 51% of respondents agreeing, including an overwhelming amount of Democrats and the majority of Independents. The same can be said about the outcome that Americans believe should happen following Mr. Trump’s trial, with the same breakdown of respondents believing that Trump should face prison time.
As trials unfold before the 2024 election, I look forward to justice being served for all the heinous crimes of former President Trump. In America, nobody is above the law, especially the elites who believe that they are.
And as Donald Trump has said about many of his opponents in the past, LOCK HIM UP.
Jackson Small is an opinion writer. Contact him at [email protected].
