Donald Trump turned himself in to a district court here Tuesday, becoming the first former holder of America’s top job to be arrested in history
Posted Date – 12:32 AM, Wednesday – 4/5/23
Former President Donald Trump leaves Trump Tower in New York on Tuesday. (Photo by Associated Press)
New York: Former President Donald Trump turned himself in at a district court here on Tuesday, becoming the first former holder of America’s top job to be arrested.
He will now face charges for paying a porn star to keep her silent.
After he was registered like a regular suspect — except he wasn’t handcuffed or loitering — he was waiting to be brought before Acting New York State Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchant to face formal charges.
Given his status, the arrest came under the watchful eye of the Secret Service tasked with protecting the former president, making it an odd scenario.
As his supporters and opponents held separate rallies, Trump rode in a motorcade from his Trump Tower penthouse four miles away to the building that houses the local courthouse.
He was brought in through a side door.
Trump became the first former president in the country’s 246-year history to be arrested and put on trial, plunging the United States into legal and political uncharted territory.
He’s also a candidate for next year’s presidential election, the frontrunner for the Republican nomination, trailing President Joe Biden by just 2 points in the RealClear Politics composite poll.
Trump faces charges related to his alleged payment through his former lawyer Michael Cohen to porn star Stormy Daniels, who he claims had an affair with him in 2006, ahead of the 2016 election.
Cohen was convicted in federal court in connection with the $130,000 settlement and was sentenced to three years in prison. Federal prosecutors declined to charge Trump.
Cohen is the lead witness in the local case in New York.
The charges, made by a grand jury — a panel of citizens convened to decide whether there is a prima facie case — have been sealed and will soon be unsealed in court.
Since hush payments and foreign affairs are not illegal, the allegations are likely to be about irregularities in how the books were kept and whether they can be shown to violate campaign finance laws.
Some of the leaks reported by the media said that Trump will face more than two dozen charges, some of which are serious criminal charges or felonies, and can be sentenced to up to four years in prison.
In a social media post, Trump asked Manhattan Attorney Alvin Bragg to accuse him of violating a law that prohibits the disclosure of sealed indictments before they are released in court.
Trump’s lawyers have said he will fight the charges at trial in a few months.
Bragg, a Democrat elected prosecutor in a partisan election, is to hold a news conference in the afternoon after Trump is produced before Merchan, whom Trump had personally attacked saying, “He hates me”.
Trump plans to fly his private Boeing 757 jet back to his Mar-a-Lago, Florida, home after the court arraignment, where the meeting will be held later.
The city is under tight security and the police are on alert.
The area around Trump Tower and the courthouse was cordoned off with steel fences and police cars.
Screaming protesters abused each other through barriers, separated by police.
After announcing the indictments on Thursday, Trump warned of “possible death and destruction.”
Rightwing House Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene, known for her extreme rhetoric, called for a protest outside the courthouse, and Mayor Eric Adams warned, “When you When in town, about your best behavior”.
Green’s speech was drowned out by anti-Trump protesters.
So far, the protests have been in a carnival mood, even featuring a dancing, half-naked anti-Trump protester yelling profanity at him.
There was no unrest like the one that hit Capitol Hill in January 2021, when his supporters believed Trump’s claim that President Biden “stole” the election.
