For the first time in history a former president of the United States, Donald Trump, was placed under arrest on April 4th. The former president’s trial will be held in a courtroom where all rules and legal procedures are standard for all Americans.

Trump has been charged by the Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg with 34 felony counts of falsifying New York business records. The charges claim that Trump has falsified records with the goal of concealing damaging information and illegal activity prior to the 2016 election in which he won.

The major part of this case centers around the $130,000 in hush money paid by Michael Cohen to adult film star Stormy Daniels. There are also questions of another $30,000 payment to a Trump Tower doorman who witnesed Stormy and the former president entering the building. The doorman also claimed that Trump had a child out of wedlock wish he was also paid to keep quiet about. Another charge within the bunch includes a separate payment to former Playboy model Karen McDougal for an amount of $150,000 to hush an alleged affair. The money that was paid to Karen McDougal came from American Media Inc. American Media Inc owns and operates the National Enquirer tabloid.

There are no laws against hush money payments within our legal system, but there are laws against falsifying business records that conceal monthly payments to Cohen as reimbursements for the money he paid Stormy Daniels, Karen McDougal, and the doorman. Falsifying business records is also not a felony under New York Law, but district attorney Bragg charged Trump with felony’s stating that the payments and falsified records were used to cover up larger crimes.

Questions over the validity of Trump’s trial have been in the air since last year when the FBI searched Mar-a-Lago for classified records. Trump has stated “This fake case was brought only to interfere with the upcoming 2024 election and it should be dropped immediately.” With the charges that are currently on the table Trump is facing up to 134 years in prison.

In trial on the 4th Trump plead not guilty to all 34 charges. This means that a future trial will be held in which Trump and his lawyers will defend against the state for all 34 charges on his name.

Other questions about the validity of the trial are in question. Trump has claimed that he has been given a “Trump-hating judge.” It will be difficult for a a person like him to receive an unbiased trial due to how large his name is. It is difficult to find a single person in America that either does not know who Donald Trump is or anyone who doesn’t have an opinion on him. This trial will be a groundbreaking test of the United States judicial system and how it applies to people of high stature and popularity. One University of Minnesota student Jacob Beauchamp stated “I think the president should be held to the same if not a higher standard than the typical American, so I am fine with him being tried under the normal circumstances. Additionally, I believe that Trump views this trial as a platform to promote the upcoming election, so I hope that this trial will negatively effect him.”