Allegation after allegation, scandal after scandal: former U.S. President Donald Trump cannot seem to escape being the focus of controversy. The 45th POTUS garnered much criticism and sparked heated debate during his four years as president, most notably for his act of incitement of insurrection and his role in the January 6 attack on the Capitol. Due to such actions, Trump was the first U.S. president to be impeached twice. Trump seems to have a penchant for making history, yet his streak of being first does not end there. Trump is now the first former U.S. president to face criminal charges. Along with these charges come accounts of more scandalous behavior.
Trump is currently on trial bythe Supreme Court of New York for 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. According to documents provided by the New York State Court System, Trump “falsified New York business records to conceal criminal conduct that hid damaging information from the voting public during the 2016 presidential election.” Trump has pleaded not guilty. The charges relate to allegations that Trump sent a hush-money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. Daniels, whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford,claims that near the end of Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, sent Daniels $130,000 to keep quiet about an alleged affair between her and Trump.
Over the course of several months in 2017, after the presidential election, Trump allegedly reimbursed Cohen for the payment he made to Daniels. The money sent to Cohen, which came in the form of monthly checks of $35,000 each, for a grand total of $420,000, came from both the Trump Organization and Trump’s own bank account. The payments made to Cohen were falsely reported as legal services and expenses, thus the charges against Trump.
Stormy Daniels has provided detailed accounts of her encounters with Trump, both in trial testimonies and interviews. Daniels claims that she and Trump had engaged in a sexual affair back in July of 2006 while at Lake Tahoe for a celebrity golf tournament. At the time, Trump’s wife, Melania Trump, had just given birth to their son and was not present at the tournament. Additionally, in a 2018 interview with CBS, Daniels recalls being threatened and approached by a man in Las Vegas back in 2011, just weeks after she agreed to share details of her experience with Trump to In Touch Magazine. The man allegedly told Daniels to “leave Trump alone. Forget the story.” The man also stated to Daniels, as she held her infant daughter, that it “would be a shame if something happened to [her daughter’s] mom.” Furthermore, during Daniels’ testimony at the Manhattan Criminal court, Trump reacted in a way that prompted Judge Juan Merchan to discuss his behavior, noting that Trump was “audibly cursing” and had “the potential to intimidate the witness and the jury [could] see that.”
As the 2024 presidential election carries on, Trump’s campaign is likely to take a considerable blow due to his reputation. Incitement of insurrection and falsifying business records are but some of Trump’s dishonorable deeds. Further highlighting his messy entanglements, Stormy Daniels is not even the first woman to claim involvement in an affair with Trump. With four criminal and one civil case pending it is worth questioning whether Trump’s supporters will be as loyal as ever. After all, one cannot help but wonder the lengths to which Trump’s followers will excuse his actions, many of which are far worse than cheating on his wife with a porn star.
