This Tuesday, April 4, the 45th President of the United States left the Criminal Court in Manhattan, New York, as an accused. However, he was released without any condition or judicial review. But the moment is no less historic.
In total, Donald Trump is the subject of 34 charges. As expected, he pleaded not guilty before judge Juan Merchann after five years of investigation. The former president is accused “of falsifying documents to conceal a payment intended to buy the silence of a porn star, Stromy Daniels, for potentially harmful sex allegations a few weeks before the 2016 election”, sums up The Wall Street Journal. At the time, $130,000 was paid to the actress to prevent her from publicly discussing an alleged affair she allegedly had with the billionaire. The payment, made by Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s former lawyer (who claims he was asked by him), was allegedly misreported in Trump’s company accounts.
Donald Trump prepares to enter the courtroom of Manhattan Criminal Court, where he will be charged with 34 counts two hours later. Ed Jones/AFP
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“Extraordinary show”
On his way to court, a few hours before his hearing, Donald Trump had described this day on his social network Truth Social as “surreal”. In front of the New York court, hundreds of supporters were waiting to support him, while behind barriers, carefully framed by the police, critics of the former president were there too. “Hundreds of people, supporters, opponents or simply curious, had flocked to the Manhattan court, where a pro-Trump demonstration was organized this morning”, said The New York Times. An unprecedented moment, of which the American media has not missed a beat since the unloading of the luggage of the former real estate magnate on his arrival in New York on Monday evening. The CNN channel, in addition to an aerial view, even broadcast images of the plane’s arrival in New York filmed from a boat. “The divided country was treated to an extraordinary spectacle”, writes again The New York Times.
Donald Trump during his hearing in Manhattan Criminal Court on Tuesday April 4, surrounded by his lawyers. Seth WENIG / POOL / AFP
© / AFP
To be well placed on the passage of the defendant Donald Trump, the journalists had started to queue almost twenty-four hours in advance around the New York court where Donald Trump learned of the criminal proceedings against him on Tuesday. Some newsrooms – anxious to preserve their stars before another marathon day on Tuesday – called in waiting professionals, who, for a fee, faced the coolness of the New York night and kept the coveted place, reports the ‘France Media Agency.
Just “the start of a judicial journey”
After the traditional fingerprinting and identification, like any defendant, the former president sat down, almost docile, at the defense table, listening to the prosecutors describe the case against him. During the hearing, which lasted an hour, Donald Trump remained silent, letting his lawyers speak, according to several journalists present in the room. His only words spoken loud and clear will be: “Not guilty”. “Although the process was routine, the case is far from it: it is the first time in the history of the United States that a former president faces criminal charges”, underlines The Wall Street Journal. A first, and maybe not a last. “This is just the beginning of a long legal journey for Donald Trump,” writes The New York Times. “And this trip may not stop in New York,” continues the daily. “He is the subject of three other investigations, in Washington and Georgia, in which he is accused of having undermined an election but also of having mishandled sensitive government files of the White House”. The ex-president is indeed at the center of several other investigations, some of which could prove to be much more serious.
Donald Trump has “stopped lying”, thundered Manhattan prosecutor Alvin Bragg at the end of the hearing, denouncing the “serious criminal conduct” of the New York businessman. “The law is the same for all,” insisted during a press conference this magistrate, elected from the Democratic Party. Donald Trump, escorted by the Secret Service, the elite police protecting senior American dignitaries, was quick to fly to his main Florida residence in Mar-a-Lago. In front of several hundred supporters gathered upon his arrival, he spoke for 20 minutes.
“The only crime I have committed is bravely defending our nation against those who seek to destroy it,” the former US president assured his supporters, who sported “no crime” ties and hats. Trump 2024. He also called his indictment an “insult to the nation”. “I never imagined this possible in America.” The billionaire spoke at length about each of the other investigations he is the subject of, from his pressure on election officials in Georgia to the management of his White House archives, castigating each time “fraudulent” investigations. . “Donald Trump’s election in 2016 accelerated the age of the circus in American politics, marked by fiery social media posts and a casual relationship with the truth at best,” he wrote. The New York Times. “And now, perhaps rightly, the first criminal case against Donald Trump accuses him of lying to cover up a date with a porn star: a tabloid accusation for a tabloid president.”
The official and highly publicized indictment of Donald Trump on Wednesday increases the uncertainty in the race for the White House in 2024, when the ex-president announced his candidacy for the presidency of 2024 last November. His trial could take place in early 2024. The current President of the United States Joe Biden, has not yet spoken publicly on the indictment of his predecessor.