WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥 The indictment against former President Donald Trump involving a 2016 hush money payment is raising concerns that it could undermine public confidence in what democracy experts view as far more important investigations.
Trump is facing related to his refusal to accept . That includes whether he pressured election officials to overturn the results, encouraged from battleground states and his role in the events that led to the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol.
Jeffrey Engel, founding director of the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University, called the indictment this week from a New York grand jury 鈥渢he appetizer to their main course still to come."
鈥淭hat main course, literally, is democracy at stake and who we are as a nation,鈥 he said.
The New York investigation that led to Thursday鈥檚 indictment involved payments to porn actor Stormy Daniels at the tail end of the 2016 presidential campaign to silence claims of an extramarital sexual encounter. But some worry that the charges 鈥 which remain under seal 鈥 could distract public attention from , which are more squarely focused on attacks against the country鈥檚 democratic institutions and traditions.
Larry Diamond, an expert on democracy and senior fellow at the conservative Hoover Institution at Stanford University, said he was nervous that the New York charges will 鈥渢rigger all of the charges of politicization against him and misuse of the judiciary.鈥 It鈥檚 a theme Trump has been emphasizing on social media and during a recent campaign rally in Texas.
鈥淚 would certainly not be opting to have this flimsiest of the cases go first,鈥 Diamond said.
The indictment already has rallied Trump鈥檚 supporters, both at the grassroots level and those holding public office. The reaction to Thursday鈥檚 indictment has exposed the deep political rifts that have increasingly polarized the country since Trump鈥檚 rise within the Republican Party.
Kathy Clark, a retired police officer from suburban Palm Beach County, stood alongside the road outside Trump鈥檚 Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida after the indictment news broke, holding a 鈥淭rump Won鈥 banner. Clark, dressed in a red, white and blue cowboy hat and vest, said the New York indictment will backfire.
鈥淧eople who were on the fence are going to see how the government has politicized the judicial system,鈥 she said.
Trump has promoted the idea that the and intended to undermine his campaign as he embarks on his third bid for the White House. On his social media site, the former president cast prosecutors involved in the investigations as the ones endangering democracy.
Other supporters lined up quickly behind him, including West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, a Republican, who called the indictment 鈥渁 political witch hunt and a political prosecution. And the only reason they鈥檙e doing this is because they鈥檙e scared. They know that they can鈥檛 beat him at the ballot box. That鈥檚 why they鈥檙e resorting to these terrible tactics.鈥
Polls have shown that a still support Trump鈥檚 that the was stolen, suggesting they already believe he has been wronged by the system even though Biden鈥檚 win has been affirmed in multiple , recounts and in the key presidential .
Trump鈥檚 attempts to overturn those results amid are at the heart of two other ongoing investigations, including his role in trying to halt the certification of the election results and in the run-up to the violent attack on the Capitol. A special prosecutor also is looking into Trump鈥檚 retention of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate, an investigation that could hold the greatest legal peril for the former president.
A in Georgia鈥檚 Fulton County, which includes Atlanta, is looking into the pressure Trump and others exerted on state officials to overturn the results of the presidential election there. The investigation began after a phone call in which Trump urged Georgia鈥檚 secretary of state to 鈥渇ind鈥 enough votes to overturn Biden鈥檚 win.
The payment that Trump's lawyer, Michael Cohen, made in 2016 to cover up an alleged sexual encounter with Daniels is the one that least involves an attack on democratic norms. But it is the detail that most easily lends itself to Trump鈥檚 contention that he is being attacked for partisan reasons.
John Bolton, Trump鈥檚 former national security adviser, said on CNN recently that the question is what happens after the indictment. If prosecutors fail to get a conviction, 鈥淚 think the historians will look back and say that is the act that re-elected Donald Trump president.鈥
Diamond, the Stanford expert, said despite his nervousness of the New York case moving ahead first, it will not stop the others.
鈥淭he other stuff is not going to simply evaporate, and I think for the purpose of the defense of our constitutional system and the defense of the rule of law ... those are the ones that I think should carry the most weight in the public mind,鈥 he said.
Roscoe Howard, a former U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, said prosecutors in New York are aware of who they are dealing with and the turmoil that will follow. But he said prosecutors aren鈥檛 focused on public opinion or the political consequences of a case.
Their concern is not about other investigations, but whether their case is ready to go to court, Howard said.
鈥淭here鈥檚 not a prosecutor in this country who will take a case to trial that they think they are going to lose,鈥 he said. 鈥淭hey just don鈥檛 do that.鈥
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Associated Press writer Terry Spencer in Palm Beach, Florida, contributed to this report.
