On Tuesday, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg laid out the indictment of former President Donald Trump, the first criminal case against a current or former president in American history. 

The inditement from the district attorney’s office included 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. These charges do not typically become felonies unless they are done in an effort to conceal a second crime.

The former president in a court appearance on Tuesday pleaded not guilty to all of the charges brought against him.

William Banks, founding director of the Institute for Security Policy and Law at Syracuse University, told Capital Tonight that time will tell if the felony charges were appropriate in the New York case, but the inclusion of a state tax law violation could be a felony if prosecutors can prove intent to “obscure tax liability.”

The case from the Manhattan district attorney’s office comes after the federal government decided not to move forward with the case. Banks says that does not preclude New York or Bragg from filing charges, but could speak to the case itself.

Trump, who has used social media to go after judges in prior cases, did not have a gag order placed on him or his attorneys. Banks argues a gag order may not be enforcement for a presidential candidate but there could be ramifications for threatening or bad behavior through contempt charges.

The former president could face legal trouble in a Georgia case involving a phone call with the Georgia Secretary of State and a special counsel investigation into his role in the Jan. 6 protests. Banks argues those cases speak to attacks on the “public trust” and adds that the Georgia case is the “largest looming case” for Trump.