After former U.S. President Donald Trump was charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, some students and faculty have mixed feelings on the indictment.

Formal charges were brought against Trump on April 4 relating to his alleged attempts to conceal damaging information and unlawful activity, marking the first time a former president has been charged criminally.

The charges relate to the concealment of payments made by Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen to adult film actress Stormy Daniels to sign a non-disclosure agreement. Cohen negotiated a payment of $130,000 and wired the money to Daniels 12 days before the presidential general election in return for Daniels’ silence.

Michael Cohen later pled guilty to making the payment through a shell corporation that was funded by a Manhattan bank.

Trump reimbursed Cohen through a series of checks, first from Donald Trump Revocable Trust, which was created in New York to hold Trump assets during his presidency, and later from Trump’s own personal bank account.

District Attorney Alvin Bragg argues that a total of 34 false entries were made in New York business records to conceal the payment. Additionally, participants took steps to mischaracterize the payments for tax purposes and the true nature of the reimbursements.

UI students expressed some surprise at the news of the indictment but are unsure how the charges may unfold for Trump’s upcoming 2024 presidential run.

University Democrats at Iowa Vice President Ryan Westhoff told The Daily Iowan he believes Trump should be held accountable.

“I think that him getting indicted is important for the principle that really no one is above the law regardless of how wealthy they are or whatever their political status is,” Westhoff said.

Westhoff said both he and his peers believe Trump committed crimes and should be held accountable for those actions.

“I think a lot of my colleagues and my friends agree Trump has pretty clearly and obviously committed crimes in the run-up to and during his presidency,” he said.

While many have taken this stance in Trump’s indictment, some see the indictment as a politically motivated prosecution against Trump.

UI Department of Political Science associate professor Timothy Hagle was more apprehensive about what the charges meant for Trump and their validity.

Hagle identified two areas of concern for the indictment. First, the charges would require stretching the five-year statute of limitations allotted to prosecutors in federal crimes. Statute of limitations refers to the amount of time prosecutors have to press charges. Most of the payments Trump made were in 2017, more than five years ago.

Second, Bragg is trying Trump with violating federal and state election laws. However, Trump was not running for state election, and Braggs’ jurisdiction to charge Trump for a federal crime is unclear.

With these issues, Hagle said he was surprised the Manhattan judge did not throw the charges out. He added that a perceived witch hunt could only help Trump in his next election by invalidating other legal challenges.

“We don’t know what’s going to happen. I’m almost a little surprised that the judge didn’t throw this out immediately … If this kind of drags on, it’s going to be something that’s certainly going to affect the Republican race,” Hagle said.

Other UI students voiced their opinions of the Trump indictment and see it as something that was eventually going to happen.

“I think it’s surprising to a lot of people, but on the other hand, it’s like, well, it’s something that people were sort of expecting,” UI student Charles Maxwell said. “When I first heard the news, I think I was scrolling online or something, and I wasn’t surprised.”

Maxwell also expressed gratitude and said the justice system is working as it should. Fellow UI Student Erin Mullin said she was not surprised by the news and said it is something Trump deserved.

“I think people that support him kind of have their mind made up already, and if anything, they view him more as like this antihero now,” Mullin said.

Whether Trump will be found guilty of falsifying business documents remains unclear.