He Former President of the United States, Donald Trumphas been defendant with criminal charges for a grand jury in new york for payments he made before the 2016 presidential election to silence allegations of a sexual relationship by the porn star Stormy Daniels. The real estate entrepreneur has thus become the country’s first president after passing through the Oval Office or in active, who faces criminal charges in history.
“He trump lawyer has been contacted to coordinate delivery to the Manhattan district attorney’s office to appear for a imputation of the Supreme Court that follows sealed“, has confirmed a spokesman for that prosecutor’s office led by Democrat Alvin Bragg, hours after the media announced the grand jury’s decision.
—Alvin Bragg (@ManhattanDA) March 30, 2023
As has been customary throughout Trump’s political career, his indictment puts the United States in unfamiliar territory and portends deepening divisions in an already radically polarized country. And not only because of that historical factor, but because the Republican has also been an official candidate since November to seek the his party’s presidential nomination for 2024. The accusation does not prevent him from continuing in the race. And the Political waters get stormy. Once again with Trump.
Trump’s reaction
He former president has received the news in Mar-a-Lago, in Florida, from where he has issued a statement in which he has assured that “this is political persecution and electoral interference at the highest level in history”. In the message, Trump assures that the Democrats “have done the unthinkable”, he defines himself as “lthe most innocent person ever” and affirms that what he calls a “witch hunt sand will return against Joe Biden forcefully.”
full statement pic.twitter.com/Y62m7S8Mmx
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) March 30, 2023
Trump has also attacked Bragg again, a black prosecutor whom in recent weeks he has insulted, dehumanizing him as a “animal” and has repeated an accusation that he was “picked and financed by George Soros.” A few days ago he also posted an article on Truth Social with an image of Bragg on one side and him with a baseball bat on the other.
In another message on Truth after that initial statement, Trump has written in shouting capital letters: “America is now a third world nation, a nation in serious decline. So sad!” And in one more he denounced: “they know that I can’t have a fair trial in New York”.
delivery on tuesday
Bragg wanted Trump to turn himself in this Friday, but Trump’s lawyers have refused to do so, arguing that the Secret Service that protects the former president needs more time to prepare, as reported by ‘Politico’ with a source and confirmed by Joe Tacopina, one of Trump’s lawyers. And another of the lawyers representing him, Susan Necheles, has estimated that the delivery and prosecution will take place on Tuesdayalthough the date could vary and Tacopina has stated on Fox that it is not closed.
In that process it must be recorded and photographed and you will be read your rights. There are doubts that he will be handcuffed. And then the first appearance before the judge will take place, when the charges will possibly be known publicly, although they could also be leaked before. In fact, CNN has already reported citing two anonymous sources including more than 30 charges for business fraud, and ‘The New York Times’ has also spoken of more than two dozen charges.
John Merchanthe same judge who oversaw the trial in which the Trump Organization was convicted of tax fraud in December, will preside over the hearing next week as reported by NBC. In January that magistrate imposed a $1.6 million fine to Trump’s company, who was not personally charged in the criminal case, which was also raised by the prosecution led by Bragg.
The heart of the case
At the center of the case that has led to the historic indictment are the payments to Daniels. Although they were carried out by Michael Cohen, Trump’s personal lawyer at the time, the president later reimbursed him for the $130,000. And to make the payments and the reimbursement supposedly They falsified documents.
‘The Wall Street Journal’ had also revealed hours before the indictment this Thursday that the prosecution has also been presenting before the grand jury that has worked evidence since January and questioning witnesses about another payment of $150,000 that Trump also managed before the 2016 presidential elections to silence Karen McDougal, a former playboy model who claims that he had sexual relations for 10 months with Trump also in 2006.
Counterfeiting is only a minor offense but if it is combined with a possible violation of financing laws campaign would raise the seriousness of the offence, which could lead to punishment maximum of four years in jail but what it would not necessarily imply imprisonment. And while it’s only when the charges are known that it’s the legal path Bragg has followed, that novel combination of laws that has never been used in a case before is something that makes some legal experts see the Potential for trouble getting a conviction .
Other cases
The one in New York is not, in any case, the only case facing Trump, nor may it be the most serious. The former president could also be charged in Georgia, where a special grand jury has studied whether he and his team interfered in the 2020 presidential elections to try to reverse the legitimate results in that state, which gave victory to Joe Biden. That special grand jury has already made its recommendations of charges to the prosecution, which is the one that should present the charges, but Trump’s lawyers have tried to stop the process.
Also, a special prosecutor appointed by the Department of JusticeJack Smith, study the irregular handling of classified documents that Trump was able to carry out once he left the White House, a case in which the FBI even carried out a search of his private residence in Mar-a-Lago. Smith also carries out a Capitol assault investigation and the role that Trump could play in that insurrection (something for which he was already subjected to a political trial, his second ‘impeachment’, from which, as in the first, he was exonerated thanks to the votes in the Republican Senate).
Front of civil justicethe real estate businessman is also at the target of a case in New York about potentially fraudulent practices of the Trump OrganizationAnd this month the trial for the civil lawsuit for rape and defamation filed against him by the journalist Elizabeth Carroll also begins in New York.
Strain
The drums on a potential impeachment by Trump over the payments to Daniels had been beating for 21 days, ever since it was learned that Bragg had guest to trump to testify before the grand jury who has been studying the case and has determined the charges (former president declined that invitation). Two weeks ago it was learned that law enforcement agencies were preparing for the possible presentation of charges and Trump himself posted a message on his social network two Saturdays ago assuring that he would be arrested “on Tuesday & rdquor; following and calling his followers to “protest & rdquor; and “recover the nation & rdquor ;. Although the date was invented, the tension rose, especially when Trump added words like “death and destruction”.
In recent days it seemed that the decision was moving away. He Trump team had relaxed before news that the work of the grand jury would enter a recess until the end of April. And Trump himself had posted a message on Wednesday praising that grand jury and assuring that they had stopped the prosecutor’s efforts to indict him.
The bomb has dropped only a few hours later. And although things have been peaceful in New York this Thursday afternoon, both in front of the courthouses and in front of Trump Tower, the Police department of the city distributed a memorandum minutes after the accusation was known in which it urges all agentsregardless of rank, to be on call Friday from 7 a.m. and ready to deploy.
political battle
The case threatens to make an explosive political battle which had already been shot. And numerous Republicans, from House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to the Florida Governor Ron DeSantishave joined Trump’s accusations that it is a politicized persecution, pointing with particular vitriol to Bragg. They are messages that have been repeated this Thursday after the historic decision to charge him.
In the case of DeSantis, who is seen as Trump’s main potential rival in 2024 and was criticized by other Republicans for maintaining a couple of days of silence when the first news came out a couple of weeks ago, this Thursday he added that Florida would not assist in potential Trump extradition request from Florida to New York in case he resisted delivery (resistance that doesn’t seem likely).
The weaponization of the legal system to advance a political agenda turns the rule of law on its head.
It is un-American.
The Soros-backed Manhattan District Attorney has consistently bent the law to downgrade felonies and to excuse criminal misconduct. Yet, now he is…
—Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) March 30, 2023
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The former president had also used the case before the imputation to exploit it and obtain political gain, mobilize your followers and raise more funds. Once again, she returned to feed on her moment under the spotlight. And according to some strategists and analysts, all the attention could benefit him at least in the short term in the primary fight of the Republican Party. So far this Thursday he and his campaign have already sent emails asking for donations and talking about “the darkest chapter in American history.”
The reality is that Trump now faces an unprecedented indictment. And it may not be the last. But it’s already one. historical.