Former U.S. President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty Tuesday to a total of 34 criminal charges in a Manhattan court in the case of alleged bribery of porn actress Stephanie Clifford, known as Stormy Daniels.
The arraignment before Judge Juan Merchan came after the former president arrived at the courthouse, which also houses the office of District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Inside the building, his fingerprints were taken as part of the arrest process.
Specifically, one of his lawyers, Todd Blanche, who recently joined his legal team to strengthen his defense, has been the one who has spoken on behalf of Trump, after which the 34 charges he faces for falsifying business records in the first degree have been listed, CNN has collected.
Each criminal charge of forgery that Trump faces is related to the business records of the Trump Organization, among which are invoices of the former lawyer of the exmandatario, Michael Cohen, or checks of the former president, dated in different months of the year 2017.
»The defendant, in the county of New York and elsewhere, on or about February 14, 2017, with intent to defraud and intent to commit another crime and to aid and conceal the commission thereof, made and caused to be made a false entry in the business records of a corporation, to wit, an entry in the detailed ledger of the Donald J. Trump revocable trust, bearing voucher number 842457, and kept and maintained by the Trump Organization,» reads one of the counts in the text of the indictment.
The prosecutor has also shown concern during the session for the comments made by the former president in Truth Social, the social network of his property, where he has come to affirm during the day that »the radical Democratic left has criminalized the judicial system».
In this sense, he said he was »concerned» about the possible effects that these publications could have on jurors and witnesses, so the prosecutor has raised the possibility of issuing a protective order.
Specifically, he has advised Trump not to make statements inciting violence or threats against any officials. This comes after the former president deleted a previous publication in Truth Social in which he showed an image of him holding a baseball bat next to the head of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, in charge of his indictment.
Trump, who has not made any statement after leaving the courtroom around 3.30 am (local time), is now heading to his residence in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, where he is expected to be pronounced around 8.15 pm (local time), as reported by NBC.
Although the former president has not been pronounced on the matter, one of his lawyers, Todd Blanche, has assured in declarations to the press that Trump is »frustrated» and »upset».
DELAY IN PAYMENT During the session, the prosecution has alleged that the bribe to Daniels was part of a plan to suppress any negative information that would damage his campaign for the 2016 election. »He instructed (Cohen, the former president’s former lawyer) that if he could delay the payment until after the election,» he has specified.
Trump was indicted last week for the possible secret payment of $ 130,000 (more than 120,000 euros) to Clifford by the former lawyer of the former president Michael Cohen. Trump has thus become the first former US president to be indicted, which could end his aspirations to return to the White House in the elections scheduled for 2024.
The indictment of Trump, an unprecedented event in the history of the United States, derives from a case that dates back to 2006 but did not see the light until 2018, when Stormy Daniels pointed out directly and in public to the tycoon for an alleged extramarital affair that carried multiple legal derivatives.
The fact in question would not have gone beyond being one of the multiple accusations of infidelity or even harassment poured against Trump in recent years if it were not for the fact that in 2016, a few days before the elections that brought the Republican leader to the White House, Daniels received a payment of $ 130,000.
With this money, in which Trump’s then lawyer Michael Cohen mediated, the tycoon was allegedly guaranteed Clifford’s silence. The actress alleges that she accepted the money out of fear for the safety of her family.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
