New York: Former US president Donald Trump Tuesday became the first former US President to be criminally charged and arrested, in a case pertaining to 34 alleged felonies of falsifying business records in New York.
The case pertains to alleged hush-money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential elections, to hide a purported affair between them. Prosecutors have alleged it was a bid to mislead voters in the election, which Trump eventually won.
At his arraignment — a formal reading of the criminal charges in the presence of the defendant — in a New York courtroom, he pled “not guilty”.
During the nearly hour-long hearing, Trump spoke in monosyllables, according to court records. Trump was requested by the judge to refrain from making statements that are “likely to incite violence or civil unrest”.
However, hours later, he was in Florida, where he delivered a speech simmering with anger and defiance at his Mar-a-Lago estate, lashing out at New York prosecutor Alvin Bragg and others investigating him.
He described Bragg as a “local failed district attorney charging a former president of the United States for the first time in history on a basis that every single pundit and legal analyst said there is no case”.
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What Trump is accused of
Trump was indicted last Thursday on charges related to the hush-money payments, which his former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen is said to have made to Daniels.
According to court documents and statements made on the record in court, from August 2015 to December 2017, Trump orchestrated his “catch-and-kill” scheme, to keep the alleged affair hidden, through a series of payments that he then concealed through months of false business entries.
“Manhattan is home to the country’s most significant business market. We cannot allow New York businesses to manipulate their records to cover up criminal conduct,” Bragg said Tuesday at the courthouse.
“As the statement of facts describes, the trail of money and lies exposes a pattern that, the people allege, violates one of New York’s basic and fundamental business laws,” he added. “As this office has done time and time again, we today uphold our solemn responsibility to ensure that everyone stands equal before the law.”
Although Trump could potentially reach a plea deal with prosecutors to avoid trial, it is unlikely. It is widely expected that his legal team is likely to avoid the route as a deal with the prosecutors to avoid trial would require some admission of guilt.
Trump’s next scheduled court date in New York isn’t until 4 December. That means a trial might not start until January, on the cusp of the 2024 Republican presidential nomination process, while Trump’s team has suggested a spring 2024 start date.
There is no specific timeline for the proceedings, but criminal cases generally move faster than civil cases.
Trump is not only the first former president to be indicted, he’s also the first former president to seek re-election while awaiting trial.
He also potentially faces other trials. Trump remains under investigation by prosecutors in Atlanta and Washington DC over allegations of efforts to overturn the 2020 election, holding onto classified documents after leaving office, and the Capitol attack by his supporters on 6 January 2021.
Protesters gather outside courthouse
As Trump’s 11-vehicle motorcade arrived around 1.30 pm Tuesday at the district attorney’s office, part of the towering Manhattan Criminal Courts Building, hundreds of protesters gathered outside the courtroom, both anti- and pro-Trump.
In the middle of the demonstration stood 50-year-old Dion from Brooklyn, clad in a t-shirt with the American flag and a Make America Great Again cap — a slogan associated with Trump’s 2016 campaign. He also held a tall flag with the words “Trump or death” etched on it.
“I’m here to witness the fourth insurrection against Donald Trump from the front seat,” he said, adding that he was convinced that the charges against Trump were a “sham”.
“This is a witchhunt,” he said.
Joe Rout, 41, a writer based in Brooklyn, said the demonstrations outside the courthouse were indicative of how polarised American society was becoming.
“I think he’s a criminal and people who do like him probably deep down know he’s a criminal and don’t care,” he added. “So, I’m not sure if this arrest is going to move that many people either way.”
Karen, a demonstrator from the anti-Trump camp, said, “I think this is the first time at least in my lifetime where our justice department is at least trying to pretend like they’re going to apply the law equally.”
(Edited by Sunanda Ranjan)
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