Donald Trump’s Verdict, and Biden in Ohio
Hello everyone and welcome back to Politics Explained. We hope everyone had a good Memorial Day weekend! If you’re new, we publish short and concise blogs every Friday that recap the happenings of Capitol Hill. This week we have some very important news containing the verdict of Former President Donald Trump's trial and President Joe Biden and his ballot status in Ohio and Alabama. This news is pressing so let's dive right in!
Former President Donald Trump has been convicted of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. The former President will have his sentencing on July 11th. This is the first time ever a former US President has become a felon. These charges stem from the 2016 scandal in which the former President paid hush money payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels, facilitated by his at the time personal lawyer Michael Cohen. The maximum punishment for these charges is 4 years in jail for each charge, which could equal up to 136 years in prison if he gets the maximum sentence, The former President said after “This was a rigged trial by a conflicted judge who was corrupt.” Trump still has three other criminal cases in which he is charged with crimes. Donald Trump's sentencing is scheduled just a few days ahead of the Republican National Convention, which will decide the Republican candidate for President.
Ohio will be opening the ballot* to President Biden after it was closed to him due to a law that stated political parties must confirm their candidate 90 days prior to the election. This is a problem for President Biden because the Democratic conversion is on August 19th but the Ohio deadline is August 7th. Republicans in the Ohio Senate came together and passed a bill allowing the president to be on the ballot. The Democrats had already taken matters into their own hands by putting the President in as a virtual candidate. This was a very formal and professional thing to do by the Republicans, especially in a time where your party dictates what you should do. Alabama also had a similar issue where President Biden had some conflict with ballot certifications but a law was passed and signed by the Republican governor of Alabama.
Here are some of the other updates in Politics:
President Joe Biden granted Ukraine partial permission to use U.S. weaponry against Russia. This comes as we are in the 27th month of the Ukraine-Russia War.
Nikki Haley was visiting a kibbutz (international community in Israel) that was destroyed by Hamas on the October 7th attacks and decided to sign a bomb with “Finish them!”
President Joe Biden releases a new proposition to Hamas to call for a cease-fire. This would free all hostages and take Israeli troops out of Palestine in phases.
Definition of the Week (ballot): a process of voting, in writing and typically in secret.
