The judge of Colombian origin Juan Merchán accused him of 34 counts of “falsification of commercial records in the first degree” for the payment of $130,000 to the porn star Stormy Daniels in the final stretch of the 2016 electoral campaign to keep quiet about an alleged extramarital relationship that occurred ten years earlier and that he has always denied.
“Donald J. Trump repeatedly and fraudulently falsified New York business records to conceal crimes that concealed harmful information from the voting public during the 2016 presidential election,” prosecutor Alvin Bragg said in a statement.
In a press conference after the hearing, Bragg said that “serious criminal conduct cannot be normalized” and that “everyone is equal before the law”.
Almost an hour after his historic appearance before the judge, criminal court released Trump unchecked, that he could have to sit on the bench as of January 2024, becoming the first ex-president to face a trial with unforeseeable consequences for his presidential aspirations in November next year.
The tycoon, in turn, has also announced that he will speak to the press.
“The accusation itself is a repetitive text”, said one of his lawyers, Todd Blanche, adding that it is a “sad” accusation that he vows to fight.
His then lawyer Michael Cohen was in charge of making the payment and the tycoon reimbursed him the fractional sum, allegedly passing it off as professional fees.
Sitting between his lawyers, Trump appeared with a grim and worried countenance, according to a photo taken inside the room, after undergoing the usual protocol: taking fingerprints and photos for the police file.
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Both the former president and his lawyers have insisted on the nonsense of the case. Trump does not stop shouting that it is a “witch hunt”.
The former president’s historic court appearance “is not a priority” for his successor Joe Biden, the White House spokeswoman said Tuesday.
“Obviously he will follow some of the news when he has a moment to catch up on the news, but this is not a priority for him,” spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said.
– One more case –
The ‘Daniels case’ is just one of the investigations threatening the former president, under scrutiny for pressuring officials to annul Joe Biden’s 2020 victory, with a recorded phone call asking the Secretary of State to “find” enough votes to reverse the result.
He is also being investigated for his possible role in the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the US Capitol, as well as for the handling and custody of classified documents after leaving the White House.
On the way to court, he posted a message on his Truth Social network: “It looks SURREAL” — WOW, I’m going to be ARRESTED. I can’t believe this is happening in America – MAGA!
The case of Trump, who has already been the subject of two impeachment attempts by the US Congress as president (2017-2021), is also being played out in the media.
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“Trump or death” or “Make America Great Again” (its motto, MAGA, in English), read banners, flags, caps and t-shirts of some. “Trump lies all the time” or “Lock him up”, the opponents proclaimed.
Paulina Farr arrived from nearby Long Island, a Republican stronghold where the former president called for the case to be moved for a “fair” trial, to “show support for our President Trump.”
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The retired nurse told AFP that she had also been in Washington on January 6, 2021 when thousands of supporters stormed the Capitol, but this protest “is very different.”
In an attempt to politicize the case and motivate his followers, who have responded by sending him more than $7 million for his campaign since the indictment was announced last Thursday, the tycoon recalled on the Truth Social network what he already uses as a motto: “They are not coming for me, they are coming for you. I’m just in his way.”
It’s “IMPOSSIBLE for me to get a Fair Trial” in New York, he added about his Democratic-ruled hometown, following prosecutor Bragg’s decision to indict him by upholding a grand jury’s decision.
The entrance Trump pleads not guilty to landmark indictment in New York was first published on newspaper TODAY.
