Former President Donald Trump made history Tuesday as he surrendered to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office where he was arraigned after being indicted by a Manhattan grand jury last week. The former President is now the first president to be criminally indicted. Trump was charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. Trump pleaded not guilty.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg alleges that Trump falsified his business records in New York conceal damaging information and unlawful activity from American voters before and after the 2016 election."
This comes after a year-long investigation by Manhattan D.A., Alvin Bragg. The charges are related to hush money payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign. Judge Juan Merchan stated he would like to move forward with the case as soon as possible but the next hearing isn’t scheduled until Dec. 4, 2023. Prosecutors want a trial in the first quarter of 2024 but Trump’s legal team would like to delay the trial, especially since the early part of 2024 is the primary season.
"The People of the State of New York allege that Donald J. Trump repeatedly and fraudulently falsified New York business records to conceal crimes that hid damaging information from the voting public during the 2016 presidential election," said District Attorney Bragg. "As the Statement of Facts describes, the trail of money and lies exposes a pattern that, the People allege, violates one of New York’s basic and fundamental business laws. As this office has done time and time again, we today uphold our solemn responsibility to ensure that everyone stands equal before the law."
The former president and potential candidate for the 2024 presidential race was not handcuffed during his arraignment. During arraignment, the indictment was unsealed by the courts. According to the indictment, Trump made a series of alleged hush money payments in connection with his involvement with porn star, Stormy Daniels, and Playboy model Karen McDougal. The prosecution alleges that the women were paid for their silence involving their affairs with the disgraced former president. Trump denies any involvement with both women.
Trump has slammed the DA’s investigation and the indictment as "Political Persecution and Election Interference at the highest level in history."
Former President Trump also faces potential conspiracy and racketeering charges in Georgia, where Atlanta prosecutor Fani Willis has been working to secure an indictment against the MAGA leader there.
Trump also faces potential conspiracy and racketeering charges in Georgia, where Atlanta prosecutor Fani Willis has been working to secure an indictment against the MAGA leader there. Further, Democratic Mississippi Congressman Bennie Thompson, who chaired the Congressional Committee investigating the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, told the Black Press that a special federal prosecutor had received a mountain of evidence suggesting Trump’s guilt.
Five police officers died because of the Trump-inspired riot at the U.S. Capitol.
“It would be a travesty of justice,” Thompson said if Trump isn’t prosecuted by federal authorities for his role in the insurrection.
“Nobody is above the law, not even the President of the United States.
“What we saw after interviewing more than 1,000 people – the majority of whom identify with the Republican Party – we are convinced that whatever happened, happened because of one person. So, we are clear in our recommendation.”
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and other supporters lashed out at Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, claiming his investigation amounted to a witch hunt.
House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), House Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.), and House Administration Chairman Bryan Steil (R-Wis.); sent Bragg a letter demanding he appears before Congress.
“This indictment comes after years of your office searching for a basis — any basis — on which to bring charges, ultimately settling on a novel legal theory untested anywhere in the country and one that federal authorities declined to pursue,” the lawmakers wrote.
“If these reports are accurate, your actions will erode confidence in the evenhanded application of justice and unalterably interfere in the course of the 2024 presidential election.”
They said that Cohen, who used to work for Trump and seems to be the main witness against the former President, has a “serious credibility problem.”
They demanded Bragg provide them with documentation of any communications he’d had with the U.S. Department of Justice over the past six years.
Already on the defensive in multiple jurisdictions, Trump’s current attorneys have asked for a judge to toss the final report and evidence from a special grand jury in Georgia.
The attorneys seek to remove Willis, a Black woman, as prosecutor.
“President Donald J. Trump hereby moves to quash the SPGJ’s [special purpose grand jury’s] report and preclude the use of any evidence derived therefrom, as it was conducted under an unconstitutional statute, through an illegal and unconstitutional process, and by a disqualified District Attorney’s Office who violated prosecutorial standards and acted with disregard for the gravity of the circumstances and the constitutional rights of those involved,” Trump’s attorneys wrote in a court filing.