The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Donald Trump, accused of 34 crimes for silencing his relationship with the porn actress Stormy Daniels with money

2023-04-04T20:43:25.907Z


The New York Supreme Court judge charges a former US president for the first time after the Republican, who has been released on charges, voluntarily turned himself in at the Prosecutor's Office


His lawyers expected a "painless and classy" delivery, a process that was as discreet as possible, but the expectation generated by the appearance this Tuesday of Donald Trump before the District Attorney's Office in Manhattan (New York) lived up to the dimension history of the moment.

The first president of the United States, active or retired, who will sit on the defendant's bench has been indicted this Tuesday for 34 charges derived from paying a bribe to the porn actress Stormy Daniels to silence an extramarital affair.

The revelation of the charges opens a new and uncertain chapter in the career of Trump, the best-placed Republican candidate for the White House in 2024 in the polls, in his party and, by extension, in the politics of the first world power.

The tycoon arrived at the courthouse around 1:30 p.m. local time (7:30 p.m. in mainland Spain), somewhat earlier than expected, while slogans for and against were still being exchanged on the street between shoving and insults.

The dense police cordon made Trump's entry into 100 Center Street in Lower Manhattan virtually indiscernible to onlookers, while the insistent rotor blades of the helicopters provided the soundtrack to the moment.

More information

Trump before the judge for the Stormy Daniels case, live

Former President Trump, with an expression between dazed and defiant, witnessed how the officials made the police file on him, but he avoided the unworthy image of the man in handcuffs.

Next, he went to the room where Judge Juan Merchan, of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, proceeded to read the charges, of which he pleaded "not guilty", the formula equivalent to innocent used in the system American litigation.

A fast procedure to satisfy an unprecedented expectation.

Once charged, that is, awaiting trial, the tycoon, who was released with charges, headed for the airport to return to his mansion in Mar-a-Lago, Florida.

From there it is expected that he will address his followers at 8:15 p.m. (2:15 p.m. in mainland Spain), prime time.

Donald Trump, flanked by his lawyers and escorted by bailiffs, in the courtroom where the charges against him have been filed. Curtis Means (AP)

The former president of the United States, Donald Trump, this Tuesday sitting before the court that is trying him for the 'Stormy Daniels case', the alleged purchase of the silence of a porn actress with whom he allegedly had adultery so that she would not interfere in the campaign election that brought him to the presidency.

SETH WENIG (AFP)

Former President Donald Trump, along with the legal team that defends him for the 'Stormy Daniels case' before a Manhattan court. Andrew Kelly (AP)

Donald Trump moments before testifying in Manhattan criminal court.

Mary Altaffer (AP)

Former President Donald Trump, upon arrival at the Manhattan courthouse where he appears before justice. KENA BETANCUR (Getty Images via AFP)

Donald Trump raises his fist as he leaves Trump Tower, this Tuesday. Associated Press / LaPresse (APN)

A protester holds a sign with the image of Donald Trump, at the gates of the Manhattan criminal court that has prosecuted the former US president.

Associated Press/LaPresse

Former President Donald Trump's motorcade heads to Manhattan criminal court. BING GUAN (REUTERS)

Demonstration in front of the Manhattan courthouse, this Tuesday.

At the gates of the criminal court, supporters and detractors of Trump have gathered.

SHANNON STAPLETON (Reuters)

A Donald Trump supporter drives his flag-draped van down Fifth Avenue in New York on Tuesday.

BRYAN R SMITH (AFP)

Protest held this Tuesday in Collect Pond Park, in front of the Manhattan district attorney's office, on the occasion of Trump's prosecution by a New York court. Associated Press / LaPresse (Associated Press / LaPresse)

According to the statement from the Manhattan Prosecutor's Office, the charge is due to "falsifying New York accounting records to hide harmful information and illegal activities from American voters before and after the 2016 elections."

During the election, adds the prosecutor's office, "Trump and others used a scheme to identify, buy and bury negative information about him [his extramarital affairs with Daniels and with a former Playboy

model

] and boost their electoral prospects.

He then went to great lengths to conceal this conduct, causing dozens of false entries in accounting records to conceal criminal activity, including attempts to violate state and federal election laws."

This is one of the keys that will support the accusation.

The next hearing has been set for December 4, according to CNN.

Judge Merchan has demanded that the parties involved in the process refrain from making demonstrations that could generate violence or disturbances.

In addition to real, procedural justice, there has also been a lot of poetic justice in Trump's appearance, for having had to humiliate himself, that is, break his pride and arrogance —it is the definition of the RAE—, before the district attorney Alvin Bragg, an African-American, and Supreme Court Justice Merchan, a Hispanic, one of those beings that the Republican demonized by calling them

bad men

, as he defined immigrants in 2016.

A black prosecutor and a Latino judge as a nemesis of whom he has embodied power and success with a capital letter, and who as of today has a reserved seat on the bench of the accused.

presidential nomination

The indictment will not bar Trump from running for the presidential nomination in the Republican primary.

On the contrary, he in the short term he seems to be propelling her like a rocket.

A statement from his 2024 campaign office said he raised more than $4 million in the first 24 hours after the New York grand jury's decision on Thursday to indict him;

and three million more since then.

Of the initial four million, 25% comes from new donors, which demonstrates the sounding board —as well as the register— of the process.

His electoral drag, as the best-placed candidate in the polls —in the last one he was 30 points ahead of the unofficial candidate Ron DeSantis, governor of Florida—, is, however, unknown,

Despite the public humiliation of being held accountable, which is a first for him, Trump is not going to make it easy for justice.

Hours before his appearance, he requested on his social network, Truth Social, that the trial be moved to Staten Island, considering it a "very fair and safe place" and, it should be added, much more politically related to the Republicans than the Democratic stronghold. of manhattan.

The former president also called the New York Supreme Court judge a "known hater of Trump."

Donald Trump moments before testifying before the Manhattan criminal court, this Tuesday. Mary Altaffer (AP)

Merchan, of Colombian origin, tried last year one of Trump's main collaborators, Allen H. Weisselberg, who for decades was the financial director of the Trump Organization, and who in January was sentenced to five months in jail and five years in prison. probation for tax fraud.

Trump resurrected that affront on his social network on Tuesday, with dubious syntax, to prop up his figure as a victim of the system.

“It was an unfair mess in a previous case related to Trump.

[Merchan] refused to recuse, gave horrible instructions to the jury, and was impossible to deal with during the witch-hunt trial,” he wrote.

Political persecution and witch hunt by the Democrats - prosecutor Bragg is - are the two concepts with which the Republican disavows the cause,

as well as the supposed instrumentalization of justice as a throwing weapon, that is, political.

Trump has added in Truth Social that the judge's daughter worked on her day in the campaign of the current vice president, Kamala Harris.

In addition to not having been authorized, the rally called by Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (MTG, the acronym by which she is known), one of the most extreme Republican figures, was diluted between the paroxysm of cameras, police and onlookers who took the square located in front of the building.

Impossible to see anything, not even George Santos, the Republican congressman from New York who is in the pillory for having invented a good part of his biography and his resume.

Santos, who as MTG is located in the most radical wing of the party, is even criticized by many co-religionists, so his presence, far from assuming solid support, marked the few assets of the concentrates, barely a hundred.

The day before, the mayor of New York, the Democrat Eric Adams, had asked for restraint and manners during a briefing on the extraordinary security measures adopted.

"While you're in town, be on your best behavior," Adams told MTG and his fans on Monday.

Supporters and critics of Trump demonstrated in separate areas marked off by police to avoid incidents, but at the same time as a vivid reminder of the polarized American society.

Although the Republican

establishment

has closed ranks around Trump, the more extreme demonstrations of support, such as the one by MTG, only contributed to fueling the media circus.

Inside the building, adjoining bustling Chinatown, Judge Merchan was not carried away by anticipation.

The day before, he authorized the presence of five photographers in the room, while prohibiting any electronic device, including the cell phones of the journalists who lined up all night to access it, alleging that transparency cannot take priority over The procedure.

“Trump's appearance has generated unprecedented public interest and media attention.

The population is rightly hungry for the most accurate and up-to-date information available," Merchan explained in a statement.

"But unfortunately, while genuine and undoubtedly important, the interests of the media must be weighed against those competing" in the proceeding.

Follow all the international information on

Facebook

and

Twitter

, or in

our weekly newsletter

.

Source: elparis

All news articles on 2023-04-04

You may like

News/Politics 2024-03-12T09:45:42.210Z
News/Politics 2024-02-16T04:31:38.193Z

Trends 24h

News/Politics 2024-03-28T06:04:53.137Z

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.