Trump’s recent indictment finally shows Americans that no one is above the law

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Donald Trump is the first former president to be arrested, according to NPR.

Nicholas Pestritto, Staff Writer

Former President Donald Trump has unlocked another unprecedented achievement. He is the first-ever former President of the United States to face criminal charges, according to NPR. At this point, should we even be surprised? This is something everyone in the U.S. should have seen coming well in advance.

On March 30, the former president was indicted on over 30 felony charges related to business fraud. A report from The Guardian shows that Trump is facing 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the first degree.

The Independent reported in January 2021 that Trump made more than 30,000 false or misleading statements during his four years as president, or just about 21 per day.

A man who was our president for four years, lying to us almost 21 times per day while he was in office, has now been criminally charged with lying about his business records. The facts and statistics don’t lie. There were warning signs that something similar to this indictment could come for Trump after he was voted out of office.

The list of negative accomplishments that Trump has added to his resume truly is astounding. Along with being the first president to face criminal charges, he was the first president to be impeached twice and the 11th incumbent president who won their party’s nomination but failed to win the presidency.

He clearly never wanted to lead our country and tell the truth to the American people. Trump’s indictment should stand as another marker to show how much of an illegitimate president he was.

We also must not underestimate the magnitude of this situation. No former president has ever faced criminal charges, let alone 34 felony charges. Since Trump took office back in 2017, our world has been treading through uncharted waters over and over again — some he played a part in and some he did not. The arrest is the biggest one of them all, the weight that these charges carry should not be misconstrued in the slightest way.

In a March 31 interview with ABC News, Kate Shaw, a law professor at Cardozo School of Law and an ABC News contributor, told ABC News, “this could be a novel theory,” referring to the seemingly newer legal theory and reasoning behind the indictment. “If it is a federal campaign finance crime, that is pretty novel legal terrain,” Shaw said.

This is such an unprecedented event that the legal theory behind it is being seen as new in comparison to what legal experts have seen in the past.

Trump is not above the law and never should be above the law.

No matter what our political identifications are, we all need to agree that Trump should be tried and presumed innocent until proven guilty. His case must be put to trial and the justice system must be used in its entirety to fully solve this case.

In order for our justice system to be seen as reliable and credible, everyone must be held accountable, even if it is a former president of the U.S. The process should be the same for everyone including Trump.

Trump did not have his mug shot taken and was not placed in handcuffs upon his arrival at the court.

If this was any other person who went to a court or police station to turn themselves in, they probably would have been forced into handcuffs. They would have had a mugshot taken and the conditions of their treatment would have probably been much more severe compared to how Trump was treated.

It is understandable that Trump may have some exceptions due to his status of being a former president, but will this arrest have the same effects as it would if it was anyone else? Will it force Trump to come to terms with the fact that he was arrested and realize that he did something seriously wrong to warrant criminal charges?

Until Trump comes to terms with himself that he is in serious trouble, he will continue to lie and perpetuate that his indictment is only for political purposes. Until he is sentenced to jail time, Trump will only become more unhinged and his fan base will keep growing more radical.

There are many more questions that need to be asked regarding this indictment, but if there is one idea that needs to be amplified, it is that we need to realize that Trump was a dangerous man as president and he still is. Throughout Trump’s presidency, all the antics that happened should have been warning signs for everyone on what was to come after he left office.