Following his historic indictment, Donald Trump is preparing for an ordeal no other former president has endured: fingerprints and photos taken before his presentation before a judge, before whom he will plead not guilty.
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The former White House tenant, who dreams of winning it back in 2024, was “shocked” when he learned of his indictment by the New York State Justice Department in a criminal case linked to a payment made before the 2016 election was made a porn star. That said his attorney Joe Tacopina on Friday.
“But he rolled up his sleeves and decided to fight,” Me Tacopina added on the NBC channel, announcing his intention to appeal “immediately” to challenge the legality of the trial, the exact nature of which has yet to be determined became public.
In the political arena, the 76-year-old Republican has already spoken out, resuming a well-rehearsed speech and thundering against a “false and shameful” impeachment he says was orchestrated by Democrats to derail his presidential campaign bring to.
Backed by a party whose tenors immediately rushed to his aid, he predicted this “witch hunt” against Democratic President Joe Biden would “reverse.”
Under pressure from journalists, he refused to comment on his predecessor’s setbacks on Friday.
Joe Biden, who wants to run for a second term, doesn’t want to fuel the martyrdom attitude advocated by Donald Trump to rally his troops. Conversely, he is betting on the disconnect between his image as a president at work and that of his rival, who is embroiled in deals to seduce centrist voters.
Tuesday could bring grist to his mill.
Donald Trump, who lives in Florida, has to appear in court in Manhattan to formally serve the charges against him.
The subpoena will lead to an unprecedented ritual for a former head of state: the billionaire must provide his name, age and occupation, be fingerprinted and photographed, like any warned man.
According to his lawyer, he will not be handcuffed but may be walking down hallways in the presence of the media. Democratic prosecutors “will try to have fun showing it off (…) but avoid making a whole circus out of it,” Me Tacopina estimates.
When he stands before the judge, “the president will plead not guilty” because “there is no crime,” he said. Donald Trump should then be released, possibly conditionally, pending the organization of his trial.
The charges against him and the penalties he faces will be published on Tuesday.
They relate to $130,000 paid in 2016 by Donald Trump’s personal attorney, Michael Cohen, to buy the silence of porn actress Stormy Daniels, who claims she previously had an extramarital affair with the 10-year-old real estate mogul.
Donald Trump, who refutes this connection, was forced to admit compensating Michael Cohen but assured that the transaction was not illegal.
However, if the deal struck with Stormy Daniels was actually approved, it could amount to campaign spending. However, the amount does not appear in the candidate’s books, but has been recorded as “attorney’s fees” in his company’s records.
According to CNN, Donald Trump could face around 30 accounting fraud charges to cover up the use of the $130,000.
This case, brought up by Manhattan Democratic Attorney Alvin Bragg, may just be the first, and perhaps least serious, for the former president to be the subject of several other legal investigations.
The federal judiciary has opened investigations into his role in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol and his administration of the presidential archives following his departure from the White House. A Georgia prosecutor is interested in pressuring election officials to contest their loss as a 2020 presidential nominee.
But nothing in US law prohibits an accused or even convicted person from running for elected office and running for office if he wins.