Historical appearance | Trump pleads not guilty and does not flinch

(New York) With his jaw clenched, his arms crossed and his body tense, Donald Trump seemed to be struggling to contain his anger, according to witnesses at his Miami court appearance on Tuesday afternoon. Facing him, a judge was detailing the indictment against him in the classified documents case.

The moment was historic. For the first time, a former occupant of the White House had to answer a judge asking him how he intended to plead to charges of federal crimes, and not the least.

The moment was also humiliating, according to the admission made by the person concerned to a journalist last Saturday and according to which “no one wants to be charged”.

Todd Blanche, one of Donald Trump’s lawyers, answered Judge Jonathan Goodman’s question about the 37 charges against his client.

“We certainly plead not guilty,” he said.

Special Prosecutor Jack Smith, who led the investigation into the classified records, was present in the courtroom, just yards from America’s most famous defendant.

Donald Trump is accused of having put the security of his country in danger by keeping at Mar-a-Lago, his private club in Florida, top secret documents, including military plans or information on nuclear weapons. He was also charged with unlawful retention of national security documents after refusing to return them despite court injunctions. And he will face charges of obstruction of justice and perjury.

Present at the table of the accused during the appearance, Walt Nauta, the assistant and alleged accomplice of Donald Trump, did not present a plea, for lack of adequate legal representation.

At the end of the appearance of nearly 50 minutes, Judge Goodman released Donald Trump unconditionally, except that of not discussing the file with Walt Nauta and certain witnesses. Shortly after, the former president went with his assistant to Versailles, a famous Cuban restaurant in Little Havana, Miami, where he wanted to project the image of a showman who laughed at being accused of violation of the Espionage Act.

In the evening, during a speech in Bedminster, site of his golf club in New Jersey, he sketched out what will probably be his defense during his trial.

“The Espionage Act has been used to attack traitors and spies; it has nothing to do with a former president legally keeping his own records,” he told a crowd of allies, donors and supporters. “As president, the law that applies in this case is not the Espionage Act, but the Presidential Records Act. Under this law, I had every right to keep these documents. »

In fact, under the law called the Presidential Records Act, Donald Trump was required, upon leaving the White House, to return to the National Archives all documents related to his presidency, and especially top secret documents.

The former president presented his indictment as “political persecution worthy of a fascist or communist country”.

“Today we witnessed the most diabolical and heinous abuse of power in the history of our country,” he said. A corrupt sitting president has had his main political opponent arrested on trumped up and fabricated charges, in the middle of a presidential election that he is losing very badly. This is called election interference. »

not live

Only conservative channels Fox News and Newsmax carried Donald Trump’s speech live. During its report, the Rupert Murdoch channel juxtaposed the images of Joe Biden and Donald Trump accompanied by the following caption: “A would-be dictator speaks in the White House after arresting his political rival. »

Donald Trump also attacked special prosecutor Jack Smith and his wife, Katy Chevigny, one of the producers of the documentary Coming from Michelle Obama’s book of the same title.

“He hates Trump in a furious and uncontrolled way, as does his wife, producer of a turnip on Michelle Obama,” he said.

Last Friday, after the publication of his indictment, Jack Smith expressed the wish that the trial proceed quickly.

Donald Trump’s lawyers will try to frustrate him by multiplying the preliminary requests, so that the trial may not be finished before the presidential election of 2024.

In one of their first requests, they could ask for the dismissal of the lawsuit against Donald Trump on the pretext that he was unfairly charged while a person like Hillary Clinton, for example, was also the subject of investigated for mishandling classified information, but was never charged.

Unless there is a change, it will be up to Judge Aileen Cannon to decide these questions. In the early stages of the Justice Department’s investigation into the classified files, this young magistrate appointed in 2020 by Donald Trump had attracted attention by making decisions unusually favorable to the former president. Decisions that had been abruptly overturned by three judges of an appeals court, all appointed by Republican presidents, including two by Donald Trump.

In theory, the prosecution could ask the judge to recuse herself because of her alleged bias in this case.

Despite the seriousness of the charges against him, Donald Trump continues to enjoy the support of many activists and elected Republicans.

But dissenting voices are beginning to be heard, including among the former president’s Republican rivals.

Last week, for example, Mike Pence denounced the indictment of his former boss, saying it was likely to further divide Americans. On Tuesday, during an interview granted to the editorial team of wall street journalhe took a more nuanced position.

“These are very serious allegations,” he said. And I cannot defend what is alleged. But the president has the right to appear in court. He has a right to present a defence, and I want to reserve judgment until he has a chance to respond. »