President Donald Trump is expected to turn himself in early next week after being indicted by a federal grand jury Thursday. The charges stem from an investigation into payments he made during the 2016 presidential campaign to cover an extramarital affair with adult film star, Stormy Daniels.
The exact charges will not be known until he is arraigned but reports say there could be as many as 30 counts against him.
“I have a really hard time caring about some rich guy paying off sex workers,” said Adrian Hemond, political strategist and founder of Grassroots Midwest.
Hush money to a porn star is what is getting the headlines and creating the gossip but the charges expected against former president Trump are much less flashy.
“Trump is accused of giving false business entries, and did so in furtherance of some violation of campaign finance laws,” said Michael McDaniels, constitutional law professor at WMU Cooley Law School in Lansing.
Essentially, the accusation is he lied on business entries to cover up the use of campaign funds as the hush money. The use of one crime to cover up another, bumps it from a misdemeanor to a felony.
Trump is currently being investigated for other crimes, notably around the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol and classified documents found at his home in Florida but these campaign crimes are the first to reach this level because they date back to 2015.
“Those are certainly more impactful on the nation,” said McDaniel, “But that doesn’t mean that other crimes should be overlooked when they occur.”
Trump’s supporters say this is all for political gain.
“It’ll be a smart time for Democrats to step out of the way a little bit,” said Hemond.
A liberal district attorney brought the charges but a citizen’s grand jury are the ones bringing the indictment. The impact will create more division in Washington D.C. and beyond.
“Everything about him, and stories about him, and discussions about him has a partisan valance to it,” said Hemond. “So everything should be viewed through that lens, regardless of which side it’s coming from.”
Will the indictment be a net positive for a guy who doesn’t shy away from the spotlight or attacks from opponents?
“There’s nothing in the Constitution that says that if you are indicted, then you can’t run for political office,” said McDaniel.
“I don’t think the former president is going to let this die down,” said Hemond. “I think he wants to talk about it because it’s part of his narrative that everyone’s out to get him.”
One thing we know is it will not be over quickly. The election is in a year and a half and Trump’s lawyers would most likely be happy with any trial coming after the polls close.
“For him to say that he’s a victim really stops the minute you start hearing evidence in court,” said McDaniel. “And start seeing what’s involved in the underlying crime.”
