Will the walls cave?

By Hugh Macgarvie Thompson

May 31, 2024

One of the biggest political issues in the country today is the Trump trials. In unprecedented circumstances former president Donald Trump has faced four criminal cases in the span of five months with still more cases to come. Including one trial in direct response to the controversial 2020 presidential election results in Georgia. Also, there is the hush money trial currently going on, which was originally seen as the one that posed the least danger to Trump, but it is quickly becoming more serious for the former president. Another crime being investigated is the falsifying of business records though it is only a misdemeanor. Likely Trump could be sentenced for falsifying business records, but it probably will not make much of an impact compared to Trumps other trials with much more at risk than a fine. Still, if prosecutors could prove that Trump intended to hide violations of tax and campaign finance laws or that the hush money was to protect his campaign, he could be sentenced with thirty-four felonies (one for every payment made). Trump could potentially go to jail if found guilty of a felony on all thirty-four accounts and could face a decade or more behind bars. Though an outcome with a sentence like that is extreme, but possible if the trial turned dramatically against Trump. The question now being asked: Could any of the trials affect the 2024 election? Yes, if Trump were to suffer a big enough defeat such as jail time or massive fines that would force him to declare bankruptcy hurting his public image. Though many fear Trump will walk away untouched with the trials only emboldening the tough macho image he strives to portray. The trials are hardly good for Trump, but they also aren’t making as big of dent as some would have foreseen. With headline problems like immigration, inflation, and the war in Gaza, to some Americans the trials seem like a feather in the wind, being only a spectacle. For Trump it once again appears that cases and testimonies are piled up all around him and that the walls are closing in, though there have been many hearings and cases already, but the walls have never closed and sent Trump to jail yet.

Image Source: https://www.axios.com/2023/08/25/trump-mugshot-photo-fulton-county-georgia