A time shaken by his historic indictment, former President Donald Trump intends to “fight” without restraint to have the lawsuits adopted by the New York courts annulled, his lawyer said on Friday.
The former tenant of the White House, who dreams of winning it back in 2024, “was shocked” when he learned of his indictment on Thursday in a case linked to a payment made to a porn star in 2016, said Me Joe Tacopina on NBC.
“But he rolled up his sleeves and decided to fight,” added the lawyer, announcing his intention to file “immediately” appeals questioning 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 against 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 crushed the Manhattan Democratic prosecutor, Alvin Bragg, who is carrying the file, accusing him of “doing the dirty work” of President Joe Biden.
The prosecutor deplored the “baseless and inflammatory” accusations in a letter to elected Republican congressmen.
Pressed by journalists, Joe Biden for his part refused to comment on the setbacks of his predecessor.
” To please yourself “
The 80-year-old Democrat, who intends to seek 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 against that of his rival entangled in business to seduce voters in the center.
Tuesday could 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 against 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 have fun parading it,” said Ms.e 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.
His supporters, including lawmaker Marjorie Taylor Greene, planned to protest outside the court while he appeared. A large police force has already been deployed to avoid any overflow.
Connection
The charges against Donald Trump, and therefore the penalties he faces, will be made public on Tuesday.
They relate to $130,000 paid just before the 2016 presidential election by Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, to porn actress Stormy Daniels. The goal ? Buy her silence on an extramarital affair she claims to have had with the real estate magnate ten years earlier.
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 could 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.
According to CNN, Donald Trump could therefore face around thirty charges revolving around accounting fraud to conceal the use of the 130,000 dollars.
This file could be only the first, and perhaps the least serious, for the former president, who is the subject of many 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 after 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.