Donald Trump becomes first former US President to be arrested. What happens now?

Former US President Donald Trump became the first ex-President of the US to surrender and be placed under arrest on April 4. Trump was charged with 34 counts of felony as he appeared in Manhattan court. He's obviously pleaded not guilty to each of the counts. 

You must be wondering what case has Trump gotten in trouble with now. Is it related to the classified documents found at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida? Is it regarding the 2021 Capitol riots? Tax fraud?

None of them. 

In fact, the current indictment has to do with something most people wouldn't have guessed could drag Trump to the court - extramarital affairs and hush money.

What's the case? 

The case has been brought on by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who's charged Trump with falsifying New York business records to bury damaging information about him right before the 2016 election. 

• It all goes back to 2016, when Trump was surrounded by multiple sexual harassment allegations in the run-up to the elections. 
• Adult film star Stormy Daniels was also preparing to come out with her story of a sexual encounter with Trump - consensual - in 2006 when he was already married to Melania. 
• Daniels had let it known through her representatives that she was ready to accept hush money for silence.
• While Trump has been married thrice and won't be the first US President to have had alleged extramarital affairs (read: Bill Clinton, John F Kennedy), the information could have been damaging to his reputation as an all-American family man. 

• So, Trump made his longtime lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen pay $130,000 in hush money to Daniels. He did. And Trump paid Cohen back in instalments and wrote it off as payment for his legal services.
• This is where Trump is getting into trouble now. Paying hush money or having an extramarital affair is not illegal, but falsifying business records is. 
• The prosecutor, in this case, has also cited two other instances where Trump paid hush money and falsified the payments in business records. 

• One is with regard to his affair with former Playboy model Karen McDougal, where she was paid $150,000 in hush money. 
• The other one is with regards to a $30,000 payment to a former Trump Tower doorman who allegedly had a story about a child Trump fathered out of wedlock.
• In the case of the former Playboy model and the doorman, the payments were allegedly arranged through a "catch and kill" scheme by Trump's media company American Media Inc. 
• Basically, news outlets under the media organisation like the National Enquirer tabloid buy exclusive rights to air and publish the stories and never do. 
• Before Trump's indictment, Cohen already pleaded guilty and was sentenced to five months in prison. 

What happens to Trump now? 

• Well, Trump went back to his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida after the court appearance and gave a rambling speech about how unfair the entire indictment is; and also brought in the classified documents case. 

• The next date for the hearing is set for December 4. And trial in the case is likely to begin in January 2024. US Presidential elections begin in November 2024. 
• For the Manhattan District Attorney, Alvin Bragg, bringing an indictment was easy but reports say the felony charges brought by him are controversial. 
• The challenge lies ahead for Bragg to justify the charges and face the arguments brought on by Trump's team.
• One of the reasons Bragg can use to prove Trump guilty is that he tried to promote his candidacy by concealing the affairs by unlawful means.     
• Republican Trump critics like Mitt Romney say that the charges are a bit overstretched to fit a political agenda. 

• US President Joe Biden has remained tight-lipped about the case, maintaining that he's not paying attention to the drama. 
• There was no mugshot taken of Donald Trump like in the case of other arrests. But Trump made his own mugshot with the tag, "Not Guilty", printed it on a T-shirt, and asked his supporters to buy them and make donations. 

The question remains about how this case and drama will pan out for Trump in his upcoming election campaigns. As of now, it seems like Trump doesn't have the same sway among his supporters as he did during his time at the White House or right after he lost the 2020 elections. 

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