There is a good chance that donald trump is indicted, possibly this week, by the Manhattan district attorney’s office for paying the porn star stormy daniels a six-figure sum of money in 2016 to keep quiet about his alleged affair. Obviously, it would be a big problem if the criminal charges really come to fruition, since no president in US history has ever been charged with a crime.
Given the magnitude of the case, many wonder what will happen if trump goes to prison. Several tweeters even composed images and memes that show the former president wearing the traditional orange suit of American prisons (remembered by series like “Orange is the new black”). And they were broadcast on Jimmy Kimmel’s show, the host of the recent Oscars. There is a sequence that ends with Trump’s escape to run to a hamburger joint.
What would the charges be against Trump? That won’t be clear until the allegation actually happens, but there have been some hints in recent months. The New York Times reported that the case may include a possible charge of falsifying business records under section 175 of the New York Penal Law.
To prove that Trump committed that crime, prosecutors would apparently need evidence showing that he knowingly had his subordinates make a false entry in his company records.”with the intent to defraud”. For the action to be a felony rather than a misdemeanor, prosecutors would also have to show that Trump falsified business records with the intent to commit, aid or conceal a second crime.
That second offense, according to the Times, could be campaign finance violations, which could be complicated between state and federal jurisdictions, given that presidential elections are governed by federal law and the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, deals with state laws. As the NY Times points out, it is possible that “Mr. Bragg obtained nonpublic evidence of some other anticipated wrongdoing, such as if there was some initial intention to deduct the payments as a business expense on state tax returns.”
Can Trump go to jail? In fact yes: until four years for a felony conviction to adulterate his books. According to the Times, while “it’s standard for defendants arrested for felonies to be handcuffed, it’s unclear whether they’ll make an exception for Trump because of his status” (Trump, who has claimed an impeachment would help his chances of winning the 2024 election, you might want an elaborate criminal walk involving wives, so your supporters can rile on your behalf).
After an arraignment, Trump “would probably be released because an indictment would likely contain only non-violent felony charges; under New York law, prosecutors cannot request bail in most of these cases.” For this to play out, Trump, who now lives in Florida, would have to travel to New York to face the charges.
In case the former president decides to ignore the accusation and stay in Mar-a-Lago, things could become more tense. Again, the Times analyzes: “In the unlikely event that the former president refuses to surrender, he would put the governor Ron DeSantis from Florida, his main but unstated rival for the Republican nomination, in an awkward political position. Under the law, DeSantis’s role would be essential and he would have few legal options other than passing a New York extradition request“.
In January 2018, about a year after Donald Trump took office, The Wall Street Journal revealed that in October 2016, Michael Cohenthe then-lawyer for then-presidential candidate Trump, had paid porn star Stephanie Clifford, aka Stormy Daniels, $130,000 to stop her from going public with an affair.
The legal muzzle to Stormy Daniels would be “illegal”. And Cohen has already testified that he arranged the hush money at the direction of Trump. The problem stems from the fact that Trump was running for office at the time, and paying the hush money would violate campaign finance laws, and that this was clearly done to help Trump’s chances of winning the election.
In 2018, Cohen pleaded guilty to engaging in campaign finance violations (among other charges) and was sentenced to three years in prison. He was then talked about impeaching Trump but it never happened. Federal prosecutors in New York investigated Trump’s role in the hush money deal, but they closed their investigation in July 2019 without an indictment, in part “because Trump was the incumbent president and under Justice Department policy they couldn’t indict him.” But that scenario changed. And today the White House has it in its sights.
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