argumentative essay about zombies

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Example Of Zombies: Fact Or Fiction Argumentative Essay

Type of paper: Argumentative Essay

Topic: Death , Health , Disease , Zombie , Culture , Mythology , Medicine , Fear

Words: 2000

Published: 02/19/2020

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Zombies have long been thought of as creatures of myth and lore. The fear of death is common in most all cultures and zombies play right into that fear making them a source for legends, movies, and popular culture. Despite Hollywood style zombies we now think of, zombies actually have a rich history stemming from religions such as Voodoo. By looking at the origins of zombie legends one can better understand their cultural meaning. I propose that there is scientific evidence supporting that it is possible for zombies to exist, just not in the traditional Hollywood means. By looking at both myth and science, I propose that one can find many instances where cultural customs and medical conditions could very well be the basis for the zombie myth. I will prove that zombies are possible but not in the context that myth’s claim. The word “zombie” was first noted in the civilized world in 1810 when it was mentioned in a book (Donnelly & Diehl). The word didn’t describe the zombies we think of today, but instead described a West African deity (Donnelly & Diehl). The term didn’t become associated with undead humans until later. This West African influence brought to the ‘new world” became part of voodoo ritual in the area. The slave trade spread this influences to other areas of the world (Bailey). The term “zombie” that was most commonly use today typically means an empty shell of a human, usually someone who is not in control of their own body or someone who has risen from the dead(Donnelly & Diehl). Usually without a soul or sense of self. The traditional idea of zombies that of a human brought back from the dead started by believers of Voodoo. Bokurs or houngans, where the names given to those that can raise the dead. Usually these people were greatly respected and even fear, for followers felt that they held vast power. Zombification was considered a punishment, revenge for deeds of the past. One article states, "In Haiti a zombi is someone who has annoyed his or her family and community to the degree that they can no longer stand to live with this person.” (Nanton) They respond by hiring a Bokor, a vodoun priest who practices black magic and sorcery, to turn them into a zombi," Often Bokurs would work in conjunction with the Tonton Macoute, an occult police force within Haiti. The Tonton Macoute kept order by threatening zombification on any that broke the local laws (Nanton). Haiti was the area that held the greatest fear and belief in zombies. One commonly held belief was that zombies were used for slave labors on the many plantations that thrived within the Caribbean. The link between zombies and slaves is a strong one. Some areas such as Mexico and Central America often embraced the idea of witchcraft. In these areas of the world the ability to produce magic was a trait that was highly revered. A witch might make a good living by selling spells, charms, and cures. Zombies are most commonly believed in voodoo and witchcraft. While most feel that zombies are creatures of myth and lore, there have been a few whom set out to prove that zombification can exist. One such person was esteemed scientist, Wade Davis. While Davis didn’t believe the traditional means of zombification through Voodoo and magic, he did propose that a zombie like state might be achievable with the correct drugs. His studies revolved around the neurotoxin like substance, Tetrodotoxin (Metraux). This compound is one commonly found in venomous animals, such as Puffer Fish (Metraux). Davis implied that he had tested powders from those that claimed to be bokurs, having it chemical analyzed to determine its components (Metraux). Even though Davis’ theory is difficult to prove, mainly since the bokur’s powders were all different and difficult to properly does, Davis maintained his belief that zombification was possible through the use of these tetrodotoxins, saying that individuals dosed with these toxins could appear dead and revived after burial (Metraux). Zombies also exist within the animal kingdom. Scientist have documented insects like ants that were killed and then forced to move in a zombie like state by a fungus that grew within their habitat (Cannon). Scientist also have documented that a virus can infect caterpillars causing them to crawl up and down trees all day before liquefying and infecting more caterpillars (Cannon). Both grim fates that makes one wonder if funguses or viruses could have a similar effect on humans. Brain disorders such as Mad Cow Disease also have symptoms similar to what we typically describe as zombie like actions. Humans can contract the disease from infected cattle. In humans it is called Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. The symptoms include staggering gait, hallucinations, low coordination, twitching of seizures, delirium or dementia. Sounds a bit like a zombie right? Overtime several Haitian individuals have come forward claiming to be victims of bokurs. Perhaps one of the most convincing cases was that of Clarivius Narcisse. In 1962, Narcisse was declared dead by two separate doctors and had a documented burial (Aaronovitch). However nearly twenty years later, Nacisse reappeared in his home town. Narcisse’s claimed to be enslaved by voodoo masters and forced to work on a sugar plantation for nearly two decades. No one could verify Narcisse’s ware bouts during this time. Whether Nacisse was as he claimed, a victim of chemical enslavement by voodoo masters, or simply a mentally ill man is open to debate, but his story is certainly an interesting addition into the zombie legend (Aaronovitch). The idea of zombies as flesh or brain eating creatures likely comes from the taboo cultural traditional. Cannibalism is widely believed to be practiced for consuming flesh individuals of the same kind. Archeological evidence indicates that there are practices of cannibalism in the past (cut marks, meat was taken off the bones and bone breakage). However anthropologists denied the moral issue and asked the question: why? Why do humans consume other humans? Anthropologists and archeologists adopt that there are different reasons that determine this behavior. Cannibalism is a ritual related to sacrifice and religious belief. Cannibalism experienced is ritual related to sacrificing and religious beliefs, included consuming and feasting the bodies of the dead in funereally rituals (Adams and Swanson) . The idea that associates zombies with the “eating of brains” is probably more of a metaphor for mental illness or disease than for the ingestion of human organs. Still the fear associated with these taboos, likely tie into the fear of the undead. Slavery and zombies have close ties. While many think that slaves are in fact zombies it is possible that people could possibly be drugged or injured to insure their servitude. The mentally ill might also be susceptible to being taken into slavery. The monotonous work associated with plantations is one that could when looked at by outsiders appear zombie like behavior. Mental illness may also have been mistaken for zombification. The psychologist R.D. Laing studied this theory within his works on schizophrenia (Bailey). He notes the cultural influences can contribute to symptoms and may be partially responsible for the so called zombies of Haiti. Laing’s study shows how social out casts such as the mentally ill could fall victim to untrue rumors of have their conditions exacerbated by cultural traditions (Bailey) . Live burial is thought to be one of the most common human fears, it may be jested at today, but before advanced medical care it was a real concern for citizens. Less developed areas of the world such as Haiti may also lack the medical knowledge to correctly diagnosis someone as deceased. It was not uncommon to open the coffins of the dead to find claw marks inside. This very real fear for third world countries likely contributed to the zombie story. In conclusion, there is a great need to re-examine the history of zombies if we are to truly understand their religious and cultural impact. By analyzing the systems and functions of death we can take all the clues revealed to build a theory on the societies’ feeling about death, and zombies are no exception. As technology improves and people evolve, society changes all the time and so doe’s zombie stories. However in contrast with all the emphasis put on preventing death, some traditions can be lost as society changes. While it is impossible to prove that zombies, exist and most likely do not in the context of modern day zombie stories, there are some valid reasoning behind their story started and evolved. There are also some very real mental and physical concerns behind the symptoms of zombification. History points out how the myth was developed and how zombies hit into West African and Caribbean societies and may very well be a metaphor for the loose of life and freedom as a result of slavery. From a religious stand point zombies are closely associated with the religion of voodoo. Practioner’s draw upon ancient knowledge and superstition to explain their own thoughts about life and death. The zombie myth might very well be a teaching tool to teach others about this subject in a culture that is highly superstitious and distrustful of more main stream religious beliefs. The term zombie may also help describe or prevent crime, in the instances of the Tonton Macoute, the fear of becoming a zombie was strong enough to prevent local crime making for a more peaceful society (Nanton). It also serves as a reminder that one should be kind to others of someone may be vengeful when you are trying to enjoy your after life! These social messages used fear to create a more peaceful environment. Medically there are many possibilities that could explain the symptoms associated with zombification. The most common being the use of neurotoxins to incapacitate and individual and give the illusion of death only to resurrect them later. There are many naturally occurring neurotoxins that could account for these effects. Diseases such as mad cow disease and brain parasites can also induce similar symptoms (Bailey). Brain injuries or mental illness also being likely causes. Zombies often represent cultural taboos and fears. The zombie myth plays into many common fears such as the fear of death, the fear of being buried alive, and the fear of not being in control of one’s own body and mind. Ideas such as murder, cannibalism, and zombies as monsters or criminal elements, exploit fears and misunderstandings about cultural exploration. While it cannot be proven that zombies exist or ever did, they certainly have had a big place in history and pop culture. Whether one finds the idea of zombies fascinating or horrifying there many cultural, medical, and psychological lessons we can learn from these myths.

Works Cited:

Aaronovitch, David. Voodoo histories: how conspiracy theory has shaped modern history. London: Vintage, 2010. Print. Adams, M. E., and Gavin Swanson. Neurotoxins. 2nd ed. Cambridge, UK: Elsevier Trends Journals, 1996. Print. Bailey, Andrew. "Zombies, Epiphenomenalism, And Physicalist Theories Of Consciousness." Canadian Journal of Philosophy 36.4 (2006): 481-509. Print. Brown, Paul. "Mad-Cow Disease In Cattle And Human Beings." American Scientist 92.4 (2004): 334. Print. Cannon, Walter B.. ""Voodoo" Death." American Anthropologist 44.2 (1942): 169-181. Print. Métraux, Alfred. Voodoo in Haiti. New York: Schocken Books, 19721959. Print. Donnelly, Mark, and Daniel Diehl. Eat thy neighbour: a history of cannibalism. Rev. ed. Stroud: History Press, 2008. Print. Langston, J. W.. Neurotoxins and neurodegenerative disease. New York, N.Y.: New York Academy of Sciences, 1992. Print. Nanton, Philip. "Consuming The Caribbean: From Arawaks To Zombies (review)." Journal of Social History 39.4 (2006): 1205-1206. Print. Perry, Janet, and Victor Gentle. Zombies. Milwaukee, WI: Gareth Stevens Pub., 1999. Print.

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Argumentative Essay Writing Common Core State Standards Aligned with Zombies

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Argumentative Essay on Zombies

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Introduction

The acquisition of technology is one of the most outstanding achievements in the world. It transforms all sectors and enables one to perform complex tasks. The influence of technology is reflected in the way a person thinks and acts in matters. It is noteworthy that the use of computers to perform various tasks has taken a heavy toll on a person. This means that we are entirely dependent on technology as a way of life. Therefore, there is a good chance that technology addiction has become commonplace. The level of computer use is alarming, and it is turning people into animals like zombies that are not sensitive to public health. Therefore, this discussion focuses on the influence of technology on the social individual.

A significant cause of road accidents today is cell phones while driving. It is also common to find a person focused on his cell phone while using dangerous equipment that requires total concentration. These activities are hazardous as when a person uses electronic devices such as a phone, he loses focus and becomes oblivious to the dangers of working equipment. It leads to hazards. These individual actions make them like zombies who do not value their lives.

Cohabitation is the foundation of humanity. Getting to know people close to a person helps people to help each other and solve problems in the neighborhood, community, or nation. With the social media platform launch, people are losing interest in connecting with other people around them who can see and hear. The social media platform has kicked off a person’s commitment to the area and killed a person’s ability to help neighbors. The fact that it is common for people to live with their neighbors for more than five years without speaking to them indicates the negative influence of technology. It transforms man into a ruthless creature.

One quality that makes a person unique is thinking and solving local problems. With the introduction of social media, most people do not find their time to think and focus on dealing with real environmental issues. Instead, less time is spent dealing with real-world problems than social media. So this technology creates half-baked adults who can change the world for the better by thinking of solutions. It indicates the negative impact of technology on a man’s ability to conceive.

In conclusion, there are many technological implications for the human environment. Without killing part of his life, one is ignorant of real nature. It is a factor that has led to many social ills, mainly due to the people’s negligence in handling the real issues in their area. Thus, technology transforms humans into robots like zombies with no ability to think and deal with real-world problems. Therefore, the impact of technology must be controlled to feel the truth of the world.

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Are we becoming technological zombies?

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The discovery of technology is one of the greatest achievements in the world. It has transformed every sector and has enabled man to do complicated tasks in the simplest ways. The influence of technology is evident in the way man thinks and his approaches to issues. It is quite observable that the use of computers to do various tasks has removed a significant burden from human. This d implies that we depend on technology entirely as a means of survival, and therefore, there is a likelihood that the addiction to technology is becoming common. The rate of the use of computer devices is alarming, and it is turning people to zombie-like creatures who are not sensitive to social life. This discussion, therefore, focuses on the influence of technology on the social man.

The leading cause of road accidents today is the use of cell phones while driving. It is also common to find an individual concentrating on his or her cellphone while operating dangerous machines which require full concentration. These activities are known to be hazardous since, when an individual uses such technological devices like a phone, he or she loses focus and becomes insensitive to the danger of the machines in operation. It results in accidents. These acts of individuals make them be zombie-like people who do not value their lives.

Socializing is a fundamental nature of man. Knowing people around an individual is helpful since it enables people to help each other and pull together to solve the problems of a neighborhood, society or the entire country. With the introduction of social media, people are losing interest in socializing with other people in their surrounding who they can see and feel. Social media has kicked the bonding nature of man in the surrounding and killed the ability of man to help neighbors.  The fact that it is common to live with a neighbor for more than five years without talking to him or she is an indication of the evil influence of technology. It is turning man to an insensitive being.

One quality that makes human being to be unique is the ability to think and solve the problems that prevail in the surrounding. With the introduction of social platforms, most individuals do not get their own time to think and concentrate on handling real matters in the environment. Instead, the little time that presents to deal with the real world issues is spent on social media. This technology, therefore, creates half-baked adults who cannot change the world to a better place by thinking about the solutions.It is an indication of the evil influence of technology on the ability of the man to conceive.

In conclusion, there are many implications of technology on the nature of human being. Apart from killing the social part of him or her, it makes an individual unconscious to the real environment.  It is a factor that has led to many social problems, primarily due to the negligence of people to handle the practical matters in their environment. Technology is, therefore, turning man to a robot like or zombie-like creatures with no capacity to think and deal with the real issues in the world. The influence of technology should, therefore, be controlled to enable people to be sensitive to the reality of the world.

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Will a Mountain of Evidence Be Enough to Convict Trump?

Monday will see opening statements in the People of the State of New York v. Donald J. Trump. The state’s case seems strong, but a conviction is far from assured.

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By Ben Protess and Jonah E. Bromwich

In the official record, the case is known as the People of the State of New York v. Donald J. Trump, and, for now, the people have the stronger hand: They have insider witnesses, a favorable jury pool and a lurid set of facts about a presidential candidate, a payoff and a porn star.

On Monday, the prosecutors will formally introduce the case to 12 all-important jurors, embarking on the first prosecution of an American president. The trial, which could brand Mr. Trump a felon as he mounts another White House run, will reverberate throughout the nation and test the durability of the justice system that Mr. Trump is attacking in a way that no other defendant would be allowed to do.

Though the district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, has assembled a mountain of evidence, a conviction is hardly assured. Over the next six weeks, Mr. Trump’s lawyers will seize on three apparent weak points: a key witness’s credibility, a president’s culpability and the case’s legal complexity.

The Donald Trump Indictment, Annotated

The indictment unveiled on Tuesday centers on a hush-money deal with a porn star, but a related document alleges a broader scheme to protect Donald J. Trump’s 2016 campaign.

Prosecutors will seek to maneuver around those vulnerabilities, dazzling the jury with a tale that mixes politics and sex, as they confront a shrewd defendant with a decades-long track record of skirting legal consequences. They will also seek to bolster the credibility of that key witness, Michael D. Cohen, a former fixer to Mr. Trump who previously pleaded guilty to federal crimes for paying the porn star, Stormy Daniels.

Daniel J. Horwitz, a veteran defense lawyer who previously worked in the Manhattan district attorney’s office prosecuting white-collar cases, said prosecutors can be expected to corroborate Mr. Cohen’s story wherever possible.

“The prosecution has layers upon layers of evidence to back up what Michael Cohen says,” Mr. Horwitz said.

Both sides will lay out their cases in opening statements on Monday, offering dueling interpretations of the evidence some six years after the payoff to Ms. Daniels entered the public consciousness and briefly imperiled Mr. Trump’s presidency.

But in previewing the case for prospective jurors last week, Manhattan prosecutors emphasized neither the payoff that secured Ms. Daniels’s silence, nor the sex scandal that was buried in the process. One prosecutor, Joshua Steinglass, instead distilled the trial’s stakes to a fundamental question: “This case is about the rule of law and whether or not Donald Trump broke it.”

Mr. Steinglass’s boss, Mr. Bragg, has offered a loftier interpretation, casting Mr. Trump’s actions as election interference. Although Mr. Trump’s lawyers might claim he was merely trying to hide embarrassing stories from his family, Mr. Bragg says Mr. Trump orchestrated a scheme to conceal simmering sex scandals from voters as they headed to the polls in 2016. All told, his allies struck three hush-money deals, paying off people who had stories to tell — stories that could have derailed Mr. Trump’s candidacy.

Mr. Bragg’s prosecutors will seek to turn that 2016 campaign strategy against him: The tactics that helped propel Mr. Trump to victory will be admitted as evidence and reconsidered far beyond the courtroom. Aides and friends who lied on Mr. Trump’s behalf will take the witness stand to testify against him.

They include: David Pecker, the tabloid publisher who bought and buried damaging stories about Mr. Trump; Hope Hicks, a spokeswoman who tried to spin reporters; and Mr. Cohen, the fixer who paid Ms. Daniels. Mr. Pecker, who ran the company that owned The National Enquirer, is set to go first, and is expected to recount for the jury several conversations with Mr. Trump about the hush money, according to a person familiar with the plan.

Who Are Key Players in the Trump Manhattan Criminal Trial?

The first criminal trial of former President Donald J. Trump is underway. Take a closer look at central figures related to the case.

Mr. Trump faces 34 felony counts, and up to four years behind bars, but more than just his freedom is at stake. If convicted, he might lose the right to vote, including to cast a ballot for himself. If he were to win back the White House, he would be the first convicted criminal to serve as commander in chief. And the question of how he might serve a prison sentence, should it come to that if he does not receive probation, could throw the country into turmoil.

America has grown accustomed to seeing Mr. Trump smash through its customs and is now witnessing a phenomenon that is a first in the 248 years of its history. Presidents have been impeached, driven from office and rejected at the polls. Mr. Trump is about to be the first to have his fate decided not just by voters, but by 12 citizens in a jury box.

And they all hail from Manhattan, the borough that made Mr. Trump famous, and where he is now deeply unpopular. A favorable jury pool, legal experts say, has given Mr. Bragg a leg up at the trial.

Yet the jury, which was made final on Friday and includes six alternates, is no rubber stamp: It includes at least two people who have expressed some affection for the former president, and it takes only one skeptical member to force a mistrial, an outcome that Mr. Trump would celebrate as a win.

The stakes are high for Mr. Bragg as well. He is betting his career and his legacy on a prosecution he inherited, rejected and then transformed.

When he took office in 2022, he declined to bring a financial fraud case against Mr. Trump that his predecessor had prepared, prompting an uproar when two prosecutors resigned in protest.

But Mr. Bragg continued to investigate and soon revisited the hush-money deal — an episode that had become known internally as “the zombie case,” because it kept coming back to life. Little more than a year after taking office, Mr. Bragg indicted the former president.

Three other indictments followed in three other cities, but with those cases mired in delay, Mr. Bragg’s trial may now be the only one that Mr. Trump will face before Election Day.

The Manhattan case comprises the three hush-money deals: with Ms. Daniels, with a former Playboy model and with a onetime doorman who told a tale of Mr. Trump fathering a child out of wedlock.

Mr. Pecker and his tabloid bought the silence of the doorman, whose story turned out to be false. They also bought the rights to the story told by the model, Karen McDougal, and then never wrote it, a practice known as “catch and kill.”

Then there was Ms. Daniels, who was interested in selling her story of a sexual encounter with Mr. Trump. Mr. Pecker drew the line there: Her price was too high.

Instead, he and a top editor alerted Mr. Cohen, who soon paid Ms. Daniels $130,000 not to tell her story about a sexual encounter with Mr. Trump a decade earlier.

Mr. Cohen has said he acted at Mr. Trump’s direction, but the former president is not charged over the payment itself. Instead, he stands accused of covering up the transaction by disguising reimbursements to Mr. Cohen.

In internal records, Mr. Trump’s company marked those payments as legal expenses, citing a retainer agreement. Yet no such expenses existed, prosecutors say, and the retainer agreement was fictional.

Mr. Trump is accused of engineering — or, at least, approving — the coverup. His company, prosecutors argue, produced 34 false records that underpin the counts against him: 11 checks, 11 monthly invoices Mr. Cohen submitted and 12 entries in the general ledger for Mr. Trump’s trust.

Mr. Trump signed several of the checks in the White House, as prosecutors will surely point out at the trial.

But directly linking Mr. Trump to the plot to falsify those records is another matter altogether.

His lawyers will be likely to argue that he was oblivious, and that Mr. Cohen handled the specifics. Mr. Cohen hashed out the reimbursement plan with Mr. Trump’s chief financial officer, Allen H. Weisselberg, who is serving jail time for perjury and will not testify, records show.

The lack of a firsthand witness to confirm Mr. Cohen’s account is a potential flaw in the case, but it may not be fatal. Prosecutors plan to introduce a document containing Mr. Weisselberg’s handwritten notes about the reimbursements — a key piece of evidence demonstrating that Mr. Cohen did not act alone.

And under the law, the prosecutors need not prove that Mr. Trump personally falsified the records. Already during the trial’s first week, Mr. Steinglass laid the groundwork with a simple analogy: He asked prospective jurors whether they could accept that, if a husband hired a hit man to murder his wife, the husband was just as guilty as the man who pulled the trigger.

“Can you all follow the same kind of logic in this case?” Mr. Steinglass asked the prospective jurors. Many said they could.

Mr. Cohen is expected to offer the closest thing this case has to a smoking gun: He is likely to say that, in early 2017, he and Mr. Trump discussed the repayment scheme in the Oval Office.

If Mr. Trump testifies in his own defense, that could pit Mr. Cohen’s word against Mr. Trump’s — a he-said, he-said story, with two questionable narrators.

Whether or not Mr. Trump takes the stand, the trial could become a referendum on Mr. Cohen’s credibility, with the verdict possibly hinging on a convincing performance.

In 2018, Mr. Cohen pleaded guilty to a variety of federal crimes, admitting to participating in the hush-money deals with Ms. Daniels and Ms. McDougal and lying to Congress about plans for a Trump business deal in Russia. Mr. Trump’s lawyers will seek to emphasize Mr. Cohen’s checkered past at every turn.

And, on cross-examination, Mr. Trump’s lawyers are likely to portray Mr. Cohen as a serial liar with a grudge against his former boss.

Susan Necheles, one of Mr. Trump’s lawyers, began that campaign during jury selection. She referenced Mr. Cohen’s 2022 book “Revenge,” questioning the credibility of “someone who says that they want revenge against President Trump.”

Yet the prosecution is expected to note that Mr. Cohen told many of his lies for Mr. Trump. And prosecutors will offer evidence corroborating the broad strokes of Mr. Cohen’s story, which could persuade jurors when they are weighing his testimony about the crucial Oval Office meeting.

Mr. Trump’s White House executive assistant, Madeleine Westerhout, who has been identified as a potential witness, could confirm that Mr. Cohen did indeed meet with Mr. Trump, even if she cannot confirm what they discussed. Mr. Pecker can support at least some of Mr. Cohen’s testimony about Mr. Trump’s involvement in the hush-money deals. And a recording Mr. Cohen made of a call he had with Mr. Trump will capture the former president discussing the deal with Ms. McDougal.

“The prosecution’s argument is that you can trust Michael Cohen beyond a reasonable doubt as to their isolated conversation,” said Mr. Horwitz, the former prosecutor. He called the approach “Prosecuting 101.”

William K. Rashbaum , Maggie Haberman , Jonathan Swan and Michael Rothfeld contributed reporting.

Ben Protess is an investigative reporter at The Times, writing about public corruption. He has been covering the various criminal investigations into former President Trump and his allies. More about Ben Protess

Jonah E. Bromwich covers criminal justice in New York, with a focus on the Manhattan district attorney’s office and state criminal courts in Manhattan. More about Jonah E. Bromwich

Our Coverage of the Trump Hush-Money Trial

News and Analysis

Donald Trump’s criminal trial in Manhattan took a startling turn when two jurors were abruptly excused , demonstrating the challenge of picking citizens to determine the fate of a former president.

Prosecutors argued in court that with a steady stream of social media posts, Trump had violated the gag order  imposed on him seven times, urging the judge overseeing the trial to hold him in contempt.

Our reporter joined “The Daily” to explain what happened during the opening days  of the trial against Donald Trump.

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Key Inquiries: Trump faces several investigations  at both the state and the federal levels, into matters related to his business and political careers.

Case Tracker:  Keep track of the developments in the criminal cases  involving the former president.

What if Trump Is Convicted?: Will any of the proceedings hinder Trump’s presidential campaign? Here is what we know, and what we don’t know .

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