donald trump is set to plead not guilty Tuesday after hearing the charges against him for a payment to buy the silence of a porn actress, in the first criminal indictment against a former US president.
Both the Republican tycoon and his lawyers have insisted on the nonsense of the case, whose charges, still sealed, will read the judge of Colombian origin Juan Merchán. The press speculates that there will be about thirty, related to falsification of commercial records.
(The latest: Live: Donald Trump appears in court for the Stormy Daniels case).
Trump accused of bribing porn star Stormy Daniels with $130,000 in the final stretch of the 2016 electoral campaign to silence an alleged extramarital relationship that occurred ten years earlier and that he has always denied.
His then lawyer Michael Cohen was in charge of making the payment and the tycoon reimbursed him for the fractional sum, allegedly passing it off as professional fees.
In the middle of the electoral campaign to get the Republican Party’s nomination for the 2024 elections, the 76-year-old tycoon denounces that he is the victim of a “witch hunt”.
(You can read: This is how the streets of New York look moments before Donald Trump was charged).
Subject of two impeachment attempts by the US Congress when he was president (2017-2021), Trump will have to undergo the usual procedure for a defendant, such as taking fingerprints and photographs for the judicial file.
protests
The case of Trump is also played in the media. Dozens of journalists from all over the world spent the cold night awake to secure a place in the room where they could learn at the same time as Trump the charges brought against him by the Manhattan prosecutor’s office.
Unlike other states, where television cameras are allowed in courtrooms, Judge Merchán made no exception on this occasion. He will only allow photographers to capture this historic moment for a few minutes before the hearing begins.
(It may interest you: He is the Colombian judge who has the future of Donald Trump in his hands).
As the time for Trump’s arrival from his 5th Avenue skyscraper approaches, New York police, on high alert, have tightened security around the courthouse located in south-central Manhattan, where they began reach their followers and detractors.
“Make America Great Again” (MAGA) read the caps and T-shirts of some. “Trump lies all the time,” proclaimed others.
Paulina Farr came from nearby Long Island, a Republican stronghold, to “show support for our President Trump.” 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.”
(Also read: Who is Stormy Daniels, the porn actress who has Donald Trump in trouble?).
“On their way”
In an attempt to politicize justice and motivate his followers, who so far have responded by sending him more than 7 million dollars 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’re not coming for me, they’re coming for you. I’m just in their way.”
It is “IMPOSSIBLE for me to have a Fair Trial” in New York, he added of his Democratic-ruled hometown, following prosecutor Alvin Bragg’s decision to indict him last Thursday, upholding a grand jury’s decision.
Bragg is scheduled to hold a news conference following Trump’s court hearing. The tycoon, in turn, has also announced that he will speak to the press.
(We recommend: What will happen after the appearance of Donald Trump this Tuesday in New York?).
The Daniels case is just one of the investigations threatening the former presidentunder scrutiny for pressuring officials to overturn 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.
AFP
More news
#cameras #phones #computers #allowed #Donald #Trumps #hearing