Trump’s hush money case leads to election concerns
On Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024, Donald Trump was assigned a trial date of Monday, Mar. 25, 2024. He is accused of exchanging hush money during the 2020 election amid a sex scandal. It appears that Trump and his team's focal concern is how this trial and scandal might jeopardize his current presidential campaign.
These allegations began before his 2016 presidential campaign, it's said that he paid "hush money" to adult film actress, Stormy Daniels. Due to this scandal, Trump is now facing thirty-four felony charges and a maximum of four years imprisonment in Manhattan, New York. Trump is additionally fighting against three other concurrent criminal charges in Washington, Florida, and Georgia, totaling ninety-one felony counts. Before the hush-money scandal came to light, Trump had never faced any indictment, thus, the outcome of the current case has led to questions about whether Trump's voters will continue to support him in the upcoming presidential election.
On Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024, Trump attended a hearing regarding the sex scandal in which he surprised several reporters who noticed his uncharacteristic level of docility. The former president sat in the court and was reported by the New York Times as “[resting] his arms at his sides as the judge scheduled the trial. As the hearing went on, he stared blankly ahead, at times looking toward the ceiling, his red tie askew.” After the trial, Trump admitted to feeling that the trial was merely just a way for the current government to interfere with his 2024 presidential campaign.
Trump then stated, “We want delays, obviously,” believing that he may be able to impede the trial until the voting duration has passed. Yet, it has been made abundantly clear to the public that the judge has no patience for Trump’s efforts to delay the trial. It is set to proceed on Monday, Mar. 25, 2024, as originally scheduled. After deciding on the date, the judge began speaking about the strategy for the trial and what questions the jurors would be able to ask Trump. Jurors being able to question the validity of the 2020 election during the trial has arisen multiple times, while a final decision has not yet been reached, and is still under discussion.
Todd Blanche, one of the former president's lead criminal defense attorneys, has also “indicated that he intended to ask for a change of venue,” away from Manhattan. It is still uncertain where the trial will occur and if the judge will confirm the venue change.
Currently, there is approximately one month remaining before the trial is scheduled to take place. As a result, the possibility of numerous aspects of the trial alternating and affecting Trump’s outcome significantly is still lingering. Along with this, the question of how the trial will affect Trump, both in this election cycle and beyond, remains. It is known, however, that if Trump is convicted in the New York State Court, he will not be able to abscond if he does earn his way back into the White House.
Thumbnail Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons