(Washington) After his historic indictment, Donald Trump is preparing to undergo an ordeal that no other former president has experienced: fingerprints and photos taken before his presentation to a judge, before whom he will plead “not guilty” .
The former White House tenant, who dreams of winning it back in 2024, “was shocked” when he learned of his indictment by New York State justice in a criminal case, linked to a payment made before the 2016 election to a porn star, his lawyer Joe Tacopina said on Friday.
“But he rolled up his sleeves and decided to fight,” added Me Tacopina on the NBC channel, announcing its intention to file “immediately” appeals challenging the legality of the proceedings, the exact nature of which has not yet been made public.
In the political arena, the 76-year-old Republican has already given voice: resuming a well-rehearsed speech, he thundered once morest a “bogus and shameful” impeachment orchestrated according to him by the Democrats to derail his presidential campaign.
Supported by a party whose tenors immediately flew to his aid, he predicted that this “witch hunt” would “turn around” once morest Democratic President Joe Biden.
Pressed by journalists, the latter refused Friday to comment on the setbacks of his predecessor.
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Joe Biden, who intends to run for a second term, does not want to fuel the posture of martyrdom endorsed by Donald Trump to rally his troops. Conversely, he is betting on the discrepancy between his image as a president at work once morest that of his rival entangled in business to seduce voters in the center.
Tuesday might bring water to his mill.
Donald Trump, who lives in Florida, will have to appear in court in Manhattan to be formally served with the charges once morest him.
The summons will give rise to an unprecedented ritual for a former head of state: the billionaire will have to state his name, age, profession, submit to fingerprinting and be photographed, like any warned.
According to his lawyer, he will not be handcuffed but may have to walk through hallways in the presence of the media. Democratic prosecutors ‘will try to indulge themselves by parading it […] but will avoid making a whole circus out of it, “said Me Tacopina.
When he is before the judge, “the president will plead not guilty” because “there is no crime”, he still assured. Donald Trump should then be released, possibly under conditions, pending the organization of his trial.
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The charges once morest him, and therefore the penalties he faces, will be made public on Tuesday.
They relate to $130,000 paid in 2016 by Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, to buy the silence of porn actress Stormy Daniels who claims to have had an extramarital affair with the 10-year-old real estate mogul earlier.
PHOTO EDUARDO MUNOZ, REUTERS
L’ex-avocat de Donald Trump, Michael Cohen
Donald Trump, who refutes this link, had to admit having reimbursed Michael Cohen but assures that the transaction was not illegal.
If the agreement made with Stormy Daniels was indeed authorized, it might however correspond to a campaign expense. However, the sum does not appear in the candidate’s accounts and has, on the contrary, been entered as a “legal fee” in his company’s documents.
PHOTO MARKUS SCHREIBER, ARCHIVES ASSOCIATED PRESS
Stormy Daniels
According to CNN, Donald Trump might therefore face around thirty charges revolving around accounting fraud to conceal the use of the 130,000 dollars.
This case, brought by Manhattan Democratic prosecutor Alvin Bragg, might only be the first, and perhaps the least serious, for the former president who is the subject of multiple other legal investigations.
Federal justice has opened investigations into his role in the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, and into his management of the presidential archives following his departure from the White House. A Georgia state prosecutor is interested in pressure on election officials to challenge her 2020 presidential loss.
But nothing in US law prohibits an indicted or even convicted person from running for elected office and taking office if they win.
