Sakura Donnelly, Grade 9, Staff Writer
Former President Donald J. Trump, the leading candidate of the Republican Party, is currently involved in three trials relating to his political and business careers. These trials were brought due to a multitude of events. .
In a lawsuit from 2022, Attorney General Letitia James of New York accused Trump of lying to lenders and insurers by fraudulently overvaluing his assets by as much as $2 billion. The alleged goal of this practice was to receive favorable insurance policies and loan terms.
The case went to the courts on October 2, and was presided over by Arthur F. Engoron who immediately ruled that the accusations were valid and that Trump had persistently committed fraud. Based on that ruling alone, Trump would lose his license to operate his property in New York, destroying the Trump Organization.
However, Attorney General James wants more. Her new goal is a fine of up to $250 million and a permanent ban from business in New York. Trump has denied all claims made by James and has been enraged by the judge’s position, going as far as calling him a “deranged” Democrat. Trump’s lawyers have continued to argue for his innocence.
CBS stated that Fani T. Willis filed another case against Trump over his alleged efforts to interfere with the election results in Georgia in 2020. The case, which involved 41 charges and 19 indictments, brought charges against the likes of Rudolph W. Giuliani and Mark Meadows, some of Trump’s most prominent advisors.
Prosecutors claimed that Trump was the head of a scheme to overturn Georgia’s presidential vote. The defendants were accused of obstructing the election by lying to the Georgia state legislature about voter fraud. Since the indictments, four out of nineteen defendants have pled guilty and have agreed to testify against the other fifteen.
In accordance with the New York Times, Jack Smith led the investigation into Trump’s keeping of sensitive government documents after the end of his presidency and into his efforts to obstruct the government's attempts to retrieve them.
In August of 2022, the FBI received a warrant to search Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence and club, which resulted in the discovery of roughly 100 documents that contained classified markings. In June, when the indictment was unsealed, it was revealed that the documents that he kept were related to sensitive nuclear programs and information that could have revealed the country’s military vulnerabilities. Prosecutors stated that he revealed them to people without previous security clearances and stored them in haphazard manners.
In July, Smith’s office filed a new indictment that added three additional charges to the already 37-count accusation. He pleaded not guilty during his arraignment on June 13, and the decided trial date has become May 2024, despite pushes to make it sooner or later.
Observing these recent events, the political world around us is a moving puzzle. As we prepare to enter society, we must stay educated on who our political leaders are and their actions, especially as many of us come of voting age.
As Jonathan Rosen ‘27 states, “It is important to know the impact political leaders can have on us now and even far out in the future. That is why we need to know the power of voting, and understand the fact that our vote can make a difference. We can choose who we want in office, and for that, we must ensure we truly understand the opinion of our political leaders and what action they are going to take so that we know who to support."