It was announced today that former President Donald Trump has been indicted on charges relating to sending hush money to adult star Stormy Daniels regarding their alleged 2006 affair. Trump has denied the allegations but admitted that his lawyer, Michael Cohen, was the one who paid for Daniels’ silence.
As of writing, the actual charges of Trump’s indictment have not yet been made public. At the same time, the former U.S. president has not yet been arrested nor has the former president decided to surrender himself to authorities. But what does an indictment mean for the former president, especially when he was impeached twice but was not removed from power during his time as president?
What does Donald Trump’s indictment mean?
For starters, Trump’s indictment doesn’t mean that he will be immediately arrested. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, when a person is indicted, it means that they’re given a “formal notice” that they’ve committed a crime and will be informed about their charges.
“When a person is indicted, they are given formal notice that it is believed that they committed a crime. The indictment contains the basic information that informs the person of the charges against them.”
On March 30, 2023, the Manhattan Grand Jury voted to indict Trump, making him the first former president to be indicted of a crime. Trump called the results of his recent indictment as “political persecution” and stated on Truth Social that this “witch hunt” was caused by the “Radical Left Democrats.”
Interestingly, just because Trump was indicted doesn’t mean he can no longer run for president. According to The Library of Congress, the candidate needs to be a natural-born citizen of the United States, a resident for 14 years, and must be 35 years of age or older. Nothing in the criteria mentions anything about indictments or past criminal activity.
In an interview with NPR, Columbia Law professor Richard Briffault stated that an indictment wouldn’t create a legal obstacle for someone wanting to run for president. But the indicted person may be examined to see if they’re fit to run a country. At the end of the day, it’s up to the people if they want to elect someone who has been indicted of a crime to become the next president.
Now, some people are waiting to see if Trump will surrender himself to authorities. Meanwhile, Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg released a statement saying that they’ve contacted Trump’s attorneys for his surrender, and details about his indictment still remain “under seal.”
It has been predicted that Trump may surrender himself around early next week, as he is expected to appear in court to face charges. In preparation for this, the New York Police Department has increased security and set up metal barricades to help control the crowd of protesters and media that will appear in front of the Manhattan courthouse during Trump’s next appearance.
