former president pleads not guilty to 34 charges against him

“The law is the same for all”launched the Manhattan prosecutor. Donald Trump appeared on Tuesday April 4 in a criminal court in Manhattan where he was notified of the 34 charges brought against him and detailed in the indictment (PDF link in English). He is suspected of having “orchestra” a series of payments to cover up three cases before the 2016 presidential election. In front of the judge, the former president pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him.

Donald Trump is notably charged with suspicion of fraud relating to a $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels, Manhattan prosecutor Alvin Bragg said in a statement. (link in English). In addition, a doorman at Trump Tower, who claimed to have information about a hidden child, was paid $30,000 to remain silent, and a woman who posed as a former mistress was paid $150,000 to keep a low profile.

“Serious tortious conduct”

“The indictment itself is a standard text (…). It’s really disappointing”, one of Donald Trump’s lawyers, Todd Blanche, told the press. According to him, the former president is “frustrated”, “upset” but “determined”. At the end of his hearing, the former tenant of the White House took a plane to reach his residence in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, without any conditions and measures of judicial control.

At a press conference, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg denounced the “seriously tortious conduct” of Donald Trump. The former US president is charged “to have made false accounting entries, he pointed out. Judge Juan Merchan said a trial could possibly begin in January 2024.