Photo courtesy of The New York Times
As of January 16, 2024, former president Donald Trump is facing criminal charges and is in civil court, largely for fraud. His trials are being ruled by Judge Arthur Engorgon and Attorney General Letitia James, who are known Democrats. A uniqueness in this trial, however, is that no jury is involved in any decisions made in these cases.
According to BBC News, portions of the trials have already been determined: “Before the start of the trial, the judge in the case, Arthur Engoron, ruled that Mr Trump had misrepresented his wealth by millions of dollars… The trial has focused on six other claims made in the lawsuit, including falsification of business records, insurance fraud and conspiracy.” Judge Engorgon also removed some of Trump’s companies from his control due to this.
Trump’s sons, Donald Junior and Eric, are also faced with charges pertaining to fraud in the family’s companies. BBC News reported, “The former president, his two adult sons and the wider Trump Organization are accused of massively inflating the value of their properties by over $2bn (£1.65bn) in order to secure favourable loans.” The Associated Press elaborated on this, stating that Trump Sr. “habitually exaggerated his wealth on financial statements, deceiving a bank and insurance companies into giving him plum deals.”
However, Trump avidly believes that he doesn’t deserve to be in this situation, claiming, “‘I am an innocent man… I’m being persecuted by someone running for office, and I think you have to go outside the bounds,’” according to the Associated Press. His protests have been so frequent and rambunctious that Judge Engorgon issued a gag order – which “bars Trump from making public statements about court staff”, according to CNN – back in October. Trump has already violated the order twice, resulting in a total of $15,000 in fines.
Former president Donald Trump additionally currently faces 3 criminal charges, with two regarding “his alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and another to false accounting over hush money,” BBC stated. “A fourth case sees Mr Trump facing 40 criminal charges over his alleged mishandling of classified material after he left the White House.” These charges are severe, and the consequences of such actions, albeit currently alleged, will likely have a much greater impact on Trump and the nation itself than originally considered. It also begs the question of whether or not someone facing such harsh accusations can still be permitted to run for president, especially with the 2024 presidential election looming near.