Donald Trump surrendered to court officials in Lower Manhattan, New York, where he will be detained. The former US president listened to judge Juan Merchan read 35 charges after the indictment last Thursday (April 30th) for alleged illegal payments to porn movie actress Stormy Daniels. The Manhattan court grand jury, made up of twenty-three citizens who exist in the American legal system and drawn by lot, voted to impeach Trump, initiating the criminal case. In the indictment, read by Judge Juan Merchan, Trump pleaded not guilty to all 34 charges against him. Allegedly, he falsified company records and participated in a scheme to pay two women to remain silent at the end of the 2016 election campaign.
Trump will be released immediately, but this is historic: this is the first time a former US president has filed a criminal complaint. Before the trial began, Trump addressed his supporters on the social network Truth, the digital space he created when he was hit by the Twitter and Facebook ban following the January 6, 2021 attack on Capitol Hill. To lower Manhattan, to the courthouse. It looks so surreal – Wow, they’re going to arrest me. I can’t believe this is happening in America. MAGA! .
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Before entering the New York courtroom, Trump had originally wanted to move his case to nearby Staten Island to avoid the Manhattan courtroom, which was “a highly partisan seat with 1% Republican votes in some districts.” He wrote on the US morning social network Truth. For Trump, Staten Island, the only district in the Big Apple that voted for him in 2016 and 2020, “would have been a very neutral and safe place for a hearing.”
Before the trial began, the former president’s people began to grow armored in New York in fear of a new January 6th. There are many demonstrators and supporters of the magnate before the court. Clad in the white, red, and blue colors of the American flag, they come from all ages and different American states to support their “idols”, demand their freedom of expression, and protest a system that unfairly attacks the former president. .
At Collect Pond Park, the square in front of the Manhattan prosecutor’s office where the protests took place, the ironclad pro-Trump Republican lawmaker Marjorie Taylor Greene yells at the crowd, “They’re taking their anger out on an innocent person who, by chance, wasn’t the former president.” authorized. Greene talks to people about Trump for a few minutes, then walks away. Recently, conservative New York congressman George Santos, who went into the news for cheating on his resume, voiced his support for the former president. Dozens of pro-Trump protesters are not easy to identify at first, mingling with the massive presence of the media and audience.
Before the trial began, the five photographers who were allowed to take pictures were allowed into the courtroom. Even the judge did not allow journalists and cameramen to be in court. After the arrest became official, there are fears that the fans will feel uneasy and there are violent demonstrations.
Trump entered the courtroom. pic.twitter.com/wy3pV7WaDx
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) April 4, 2023
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But what is the detention situation? In the United States, a person is detained when accused of non-violent crimes. In this case, the accused is brought before the court to hear the charges, fingerprints and criminal photos are taken, and then he is released pending trial. According to sources in his entourage at CNN, Trump specifically requested that the criminal photo be taken at the Manhattan courthouse prior to the trial. The businessman may want to use the image to his advantage, and according to some, even for the election posters of the 2024 campaign.
Why was Trump blamed?
The lawsuit involving Donald Trump concerns the illegal payment of $130,000 to buy the silence of porn star Stormy Daniels (born Stephany Gregory Clifford), who threatened to expose her in the middle of her presidential campaign in 2016. On the occasion of a golf tournament for VIPs in 2006, when she was 60 and he was 27, she had sex with the tycoon: Trump promised to get her to appear on the reality show. apprentice. However, the businessman has always denied any encounters.
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In October 2016, her manager contacted the director of a magazine called The Enquirer and offered her the story in exchange for money. But Trump had acted early to prevent similar cases from undermining the White House race. Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen, took the field and took $130,000 out of his own pocket to prevent the story from leaking and reaching the public. Trump later won the election and deposited the money into the lawyer’s account as soon as he entered the White House. The businessman has always denied the accusations, arguing that it was a wage payment, not the woman’s case.
In fact, Cohen would pay $130,000 out of his own pocket, and then Trump’s parent company, the Trump Organization, would reimburse the porn star, recording the amount as compensation for an invented legal advice. Under American law this would be a minor offense. However, prosecutor Alvin Bragg wanted to file a criminal complaint. In fact, the prosecutor alleges that Trump violated the law governing campaign funding and that the $130,000 paid to Daniels was used to avoid negative repercussions during the presidential race.
Source: Today IT
Karen Clayton is a seasoned journalist and author at The Nation Update, with a focus on world news and current events. She has a background in international relations, which gives her a deep understanding of the political, economic and social factors that shape the global landscape. She writes about a wide range of topics, including conflicts, political upheavals, and economic trends, as well as humanitarian crisis and human rights issues.
