Former President Donald Trump addressed the country from his Mar-A-Lago estate after appearing in court in New York and pleading "not guilty" to 34 charges related to several alleged hush money payments made before the 2016 election.
The now candidate for the 2024 elections stated that he "never thought anything like this could happen in America" and assured that "the only crime that I have committed is to fearlessly defend our nation from those who seek to destroy it."
Likewise, Trump pointed out that in his opinion, the real criminal is prosecutor Alvin Bragg, for leaking details of the charges to the press, he again reiterated that he believes the case has only been against him for political reasons. The presidential candidate stated that the hearing was shocking to many because of the limited revelations about the case.
"Virtually every legal expert has said there is no case here. Nothing was done illegally!" he said, adding that the prosecutor "shut down" New York City over the arraignment and that he "brought in 38,000 police officers."
"Bragg will spend an estimated $200,000,000 of New York City funds, for a totally legal $130,000 NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement)," he said.
This fake case was brought only to interfere with the upcoming 2024 election and it should be dropped immediately.
The 34 charges Trump is facing
The indictment against former President Donald Trump was unsealed Tuesday with 34 criminal charges related to falsifying business records.
Although the charging document does not cite names, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg stated that the former president orchestrated an illegal scheme that issued three payments to individuals with "damaging information" about him in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election.
The first, for $30,000, to a janitor at Trump Tower, who claimed to know of the existence of a legitimate child of the former president; the second, for $150,000, to "a woman who alleges to have had a sexual relationship with Trump"; the third, for $130,000 "to the lawyer of a porn actress," in reference to Stormy Daniels. The second woman, also unnamed, matches the description of former Playboy model Karen McDougal, 52, who spoke publicly about her relationship with Trump.
Here you can read all the charges against the former president:
Donald J. Trump Indictment by VozMedia
An unprecedented case with little legal force
Michael Cohen, the lawyer who worked for the Trump Organization until 2017, pleaded guilty in 2018 to the under-the-table payment to Daniels, for which he was tried and sentenced to three years in prison. However, a few days ago, a letter surfaced that clearly evidenced that Cohen used his personal funds to make the payment without the intervention of Trump, his organization or his campaign resources.
However, prosecutor Bragg insists that payments were made that were not for legal services, but to reimburse Cohen for the payment issued to Daniels for her silence during the 2016 election campaign. The prosecutor noted that "Donald Trump has been charged with 34 felonies. "Thirty-four false statements made to cover up other crimes."
However, numerous experts - among them many Democrats and Donald Trump's detractors - warn of the weak legal entity of this case. Andrew McCabe, former deputy director of the FBI, explained that he expected to see more about the direction the prosecutor intended to take with this indictment, but that he saw no support for the allegations, which he called a "disappointment."
"What is the legal theory linking that very strong case of 34 misdemeanors with the intent to conceal another crime, which is what makes it a felony? It is possible that the district attorney has an elaborate theory solidly supported by a great deal of evidence, and he just decided to conceal it at this point. That would be a strange decision on his part," he said, noting that he would give him the benefit of the doubt.
"At the end of the day, if all of our jurist friends read this indictment and don't see a way for a felony to be committed, it's hard to imagine that a jury could be convinced that it should go that far," he added.
Joe Tacopina, the former president's attorney, said the defense team did not expect the indictment to fail to specify the alleged underlying crimes and stressed that he found it surprising that a state prosecutor is attempting to prosecute something as subtle as this. However, he stressed that this only reinforces his position that he considers the case to be a political persecution. Tacopina didn't believe the Stormy Daniels hush money case would see a jury trial.
The next in-person hearing for the case has been set for December 4, the prosecution also wants to request a trial date in January 2024, in the midst of the November presidential election race. The defense of the former president, however, has suggested the spring of 2024 for the trial.
