The 45th president of the United States has once again made headlines, this time for a case involving hush money paid to adult film star, Stormy Daniels. Donald Trump has been indicted and charged with several counts related to this case, leaving many wondering what it means for his political future. Will this latest legal issue affect his chances of running for president again in 2024? In this article, we’ll delve into the details of the porn star hush money case, what led to Trump’s indictment, and what it could indicate about his political career.
Former US President Donald Trump is set to become the first ex-president to face criminal charges. A grand jury in New York has indicted him on charges linked to hush money payments he allegedly made to an adult film star. The specific charges are yet to be made public, but Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen arranged a $130,000 payment in October 2016 to Stormy Daniels, who claimed to have had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006. When Trump became president, he reimbursed Cohen. In 2018, Cohen pleaded guilty to campaign finance charges related to the payment.
Trump’s lawyers have argued that the payment to Daniels would have been made regardless of his presidential campaign. His arraignment is scheduled for Tuesday, where he will enter a plea. His legal team is expected to fight the charges in the pretrial stages, which could mean that years pass before any possible trial.
Trump is also facing criminal inquiries relating to his attempts to subvert the 2020 election result and his alleged incitement of the January 6 attack on Congress. The investigation into his retention of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago in Florida is examining whether he wilfully retained national security information and obstructed justice. Trump is also under investigation in Georgia over alleged election interference, and he faces a defamation trial in which writer E Jean Carroll has accused him of rape.
Democratic strategist Hank Sheinkopf said diehard Trump supporters would not care about the indictment, but that most Republicans would not back a candidate charged with a crime. He suggested that the indictment could energise Trump supporters and may position him ahead of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. However, Trump’s core constituency may interpret the indictment as an attack on their values, and he may use it to argue that “these people in Manhattan, whoever ‘these people’ are, are interfering with his ability to ‘make America great again’ and to ‘take the country back’”. Trump has previously accused Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, who is Black, of being racist.
