RTTue, 04 Apr 2023 18:01 UTC
© AP Photo/Corey SipkinFormer President Trump leaves Trump Tower in New York for Manhattan Criminal Court, where he will be booked and arraigned on charges stemming from a hush money payment to a porn actor during his 2016 campaign, Tuesday, April 4, 2023.
Former US President Donald Trump arrived at the Manhattan District Attorney's office on Tuesday afternoon, to be placed under arrest and face a series of charges his attorneys have denounced as a politically motivated
"witch hunt" by the New York Democrat Alvin Bragg.
The existence of the charges was leaked to the press last Friday, and more details were leaked on Monday, indicating that
Bragg is going after the 45th president for the "crime" of allegedly falsifying business records in regard to "hush money" reportedly paid to porn actress Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election.Federal prosecutors declined to pursue the case, and multiple legal scholars have argued that the charges amount to a misdemeanor campaign violation at best. Hillary Clinton paid a fine for the same exact transgression in the matter of funding the notorious "Steele dossier," a series of fabrications accusing Trump of having ties to Russia.
Trump himself has denounced the indictment as purely political. Though Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said he might not honor the politicized New York arrest warrant,
Trump decided to fly in from his Mar-a-Lago home to New York on Monday, and turn himself in on Tuesday.
Contrary to expectations of multiple media outlets, he was not handcuffed or
"perp-walked" before the cameras. The former president arrived in a motorcade and walked into the office building, flanked by his Secret Service protection detail.
The indictment has galvanized support for Trump, who is also running in the 2024 election. He has reportedly raised millions in campaign funds. Thousands rallied outside Mar-a-Lago to see his motorcade off to the airport, while hundreds of supporters gathered outside the Trump Tower in Manhattan to show their support. A cordon of police separated the New York supporters from a crowd of pro-Democrat protesters who gathered to celebrate Trump's indictment, and attempted to drown out Trump supporters with noisemakers, whistles, pots and pans and insults.
Comment: NewsReal: Trump Says 'US Dead' as Regime Indicts HimTrump is charged with
34 felony counts, with a possible prison sentence of over 130 years. Though a prison sentence is unlikely - "No one gets jail time for that as a first offender," said a New York law enforcement official.
After this story was posted, a spokesman for Trump said the former president's legal team had not seen the indictment or been briefed on the details. Trump himself responded with a post on Truth Social.
"Wow! District Attorney Bragg just illegally LEAKED the various points, and complete information, on the pathetic Indictment against me," Trump wrote. "I know the reporter and so, unfortunately, does he. This means that he MUST BE IMMEDIATELY INDICTED. Now, if he wants to really clean up his reputation, he will do the honorable thing and, as District Attorney, INDICT HIMSELF. He will go down in Judicial history, and his Trump Hating wife will be, I am sure, very proud of him!"
A spokesperson for Bragg said in an email that the district attorney's office "declined to comment on a sealed indictment."
And it's
not just the DA.
The Department of Justice is reportedly building a case around the issue of obstruction of justice, as it investigates Donald Trump for potentially mishandling classified documents stored at Mar-a-Lago.
The Washington Post reported the development first on Sunday, citing multiple sources familiar with the ongoing investigation.
According to the Post, Mr Trump is under investigation for potentially obstructing authorities as they attempted to secure all the classified materials retained by Mr Trump without the permission of the National Archives from his days in the White House. Some of those retained documents had classified markings, prompting the review into whether any classified information was mishandled.
Comment: NewsReal: Trump Says 'US Dead' as Regime Indicts Him
Trump is charged with 34 felony counts, with a possible prison sentence of over 130 years. Though a prison sentence is unlikely - "No one gets jail time for that as a first offender," said a New York law enforcement official. And it's not just the DA.