Former President Donald Trump addressed the country from his Mar-A-Lago property after appearing in court in New York and pleading "not guilty" to all 34 charges against him. The charges are related to the alleged payment of hush money made during the peak of the 2016 presidential election to buy the silence of a porn actress with whom he had a relationship.
The candidate for the 2024 presidential elections stated that he "never thought something like this could happen in the United States" and assured that the only crime he has committed is "fearlessly defending" the country from those who seek to destroy it.
Likewise, Trump pointed out that in his opinion, the real criminal is prosecutor Alvin Bragg for having leaked the charges to the press and reiterated that he believes the case was only brought for political reasons.
"This fake case was brought only to interfere with the upcoming 2024 election. And it should be dropped immediately," he said, explaining that "virtually everybody that has looked at this case," even Democrats, "say there is no crime, and that it should never have been brought."
#BREAKING: Former President Trump after #TrumpArraignment: "I never thought anything like this could happen in America never thought it could happen. The only crime that I have committed is to fearlessly defend our nation from those who seek to destroy it." pic.twitter.com/sGMtSZfQwK
— Forbes (@Forbes) April 5, 2023
More details to follow:
Former FBI deputy director says evidence in case is a "disappointment"
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.
President of El Salvador gives his opinion
The president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, published through Twitter that after the accusation against Trump the United States will not be able to use "democracy as a foreign policy."
“Think what you want about former President Trump and the reasons he's being indicted. But just imagine if this happened in any other country, where a government arrested the main opposition candidate. The United States ability to use "democracy" as foreign policy is gone," he commented.
Think what you want about former President Trump and the reasons he’s being indicted.
But just imagine if this happened in any other country, where a government arrested the main opposition candidate.
The United States ability to use “democracy” as foreign policy is gone. https://t.co/svdFxtaf4q
— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) April 4, 2023
Republican congressman calls for impeachment of New York prosecutor
Rep. Thomas Massie wrote via his official Instagram account that following the arraignment of Donald Trump, New York U.S. Attorney Alvin Bragg should be disbarred and removed from office.
"Alvin Bragg should be disbarred and removed from office. This is an egregious abuse of the legal system for political purposes and threatens the structure of our judicial system," he shared.
Alvin Bragg should be disbarred and removed from office. This is an egregious abuse of the legal system for political purposes and threatens the fabric of our judicial system.
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) April 4, 2023
Senator Romney says Bragg "overstepped his bounds"
Although Republican Senator Mitt Romney is critical of the former president, he called the case a "dangerous precedent" and said Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg overstepped his authority.
"I believe President Trump's character and conduct make him unfit for office. Still, I think the New York prosecutor went too far in reaching felony criminal charges to suit a political agenda. No one is above the law, not even former presidents, but everyone is entitled to equal treatment under the law. The overreach sets a dangerous precedent for criminalizing political opponents and damages the public's faith in our justice system," he said.
Tense moment with Karine Jean-Pierre over silence on Trump indictment
A reporter had a confrontation with White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre over the way she avoided several questions about the indictment against Donald Trump.
Michael Shear, a reporter for the New York Times, confronted Jean-Pierre after she evaded repeated questions about the crimes the former president is facing. The reporter asked her what "the difference" was between commenting on the recent allegations against Trump and the statements the White House has made about January 6. The Press Secretary responded that January 6 was a "devastating day" in which there was an "attack on democracy".
Trump lawyer reiterates case will not go to trial
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.
"I don't think we're going to get to a jury. I think this case will fall under the law long before we get there," he said.
Biden laughs after reporter's question about Trump indictment
A reporter asked President Joe Biden about whether he considered the accusation leveled at Donald Trump to be "politically divisive" before a meeting with the Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. The president did not respond directly and even appeared to laugh at the question as reporters left the room, Fox News reported.
The former president arrives in Florida
Former President Donald Trump landed in Florida. The former president took off from LaGuardia Airport in his Trump Force One plane during the afternoon hours, after the reading of the crimes in a Manhattan court.
Trump confirms he will give statements
The former president said he will make remarks from his home in Mar-a-Lago at 8:15 p.m. EST.
Trump criticizes Bragg
Through Truth Social, the presidential candidate stated that the hearing was shocking for many due to 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.
Bragg defends his lack of specificity on laws Trump "violated"
The Manhattan district attorney was questioned by reporters about the lack of detail in the indictment against Trump and Alvin Bragg justified himself by saying that the reason he did not specify more is that "the law does not require it." However, he later claimed that the former president violated a law at Tuesday's press conference.
"The first is New York state election law, which makes conspiring to promote a candidacy by illegal means a crime," he said.
Trump faces up to 136 years in prison
The former president arrived Monday in New York City to attend the arraignment which revealed that Trump will face more than three dozen charges that could lead to a maximum sentence of 136 years in prison. The charges related to falsification of business records are felonies with a sentence of up to four years each.
BREAKING: Former Pres. Trump pleads not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
"The reason you can elevate it from a misdemeanor to a felony is by saying that the falsification of the business records was done to conceal another crime," @danabrams explains. pic.twitter.com/W6akhX3CJE
— ABC News Live (@ABCNewsLive) April 4, 2023
"During the election, Trump and others employed a 'trap and kill' scheme to identify, buy, and bury negative information about him and boost his electoral prospects. Trump then went to great lengths to conceal this conduct, causing dozens of false entries in business records to conceal criminal activity, including attempts to violate state and federal election laws." alleged Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
However, as expected, the former president pleaded not guilty to all of the charges and will now have to wait for the next hearing of the case on December 4. The judge said he expects this case to move forward as quickly as possible and the prosecution has already expressed its desire for a trial in January of next year, at the height of the Republican presidential primaries.
