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Indicted former US President Donald Trump appeared in Manhattan Court, where he was arraigned and charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records stemming from hush-money payments to pornstar Stormy Daniels and former playmate Karen McDougal.
Trump pleaded not guilty, but he made history as the first US president ever to face criminal charges in court.
Unlike other people facing felony charges, to the disappointment of his opponents, Trump was not handcuffed or had his mugshot taken, but his campaign itching to capitalize on his arraignment to make money, sent out a fundraiser appeal selling at $47 t-shirt with a fake mugshot of Trump, with words NOT GUILTY in capital letters at the bottom of the shirt.
The Trump team posted a small victory against the media and won a motion to disallow cameras in court, preventing the public from seeing his reaction.
But inside the court, Trump, dressed in a blue suit and a red tie and flanked by four lawyers, with two police officers, behind him, appeared subdued.
While unlikely, if convicted, Trump would face 136 years in Prison, an ironic prospect for a man who popularized the phrase “Lock Her Up” against his opponent, Hillary Clinton, the Democratic Party flagbearer in the 2016 presidential election.
In some bombastic posts on Truth Social, Trump called on his supporters to come out in large numbers and protest his arrest, but none appeared. Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor-Greene, who vowed to lead a protest, was rushed to a car after encountering a hostile crowd calling her names and telling her to get out of New York.
Manhattan District Attorney (DA) Alvin Bragg said the charges are not just about one payment, but the charges stem from multiple incidents of falsifying business records, all felonies in the State of New York.
From the indictment Bragg states the following:
“FromAugust 2015 to December 2017, the Defendant orchestrated a scheme with others to influence the 2016 presidential election by identifying and purchasing negative information about him to suppress its publication and benefit the Defendant’s electoral prospects. In order to execute the unlawful scheme, the participants violated election laws and made and caused false entries in the business records of various entities in NewYork. The participants also took steps that mischaracterized, for tax purposes, the true nature of the payments made in furtherance of the scheme.”
Bragg also illustrated Trump’s catch and kill scheme with the National Enquirer, where he suppressed negative stories about him, including a story about a Trump Tower doorman who shopped a false story about Trump fathering a child out of wedlock.
Below is a link to the full Manhattan DA indictment of Donald Trump
Donald-Trump-indictment-Manhattan-DA
The Public Reaction
The mainstream media will cover the news of the historic arrest of a former US President wall-to-wall and around the clock. Pundits will analyze every aspect of today’s arraignment, but the most exciting reaction comes from social media.
Trump’s niece who also has a lawsuit against him going, celebrated her uncles arraignment with a tweet.
“History made!” Mary L. Trump declared.
She said the arraignment taught the audience a lot about the seriousness of the charges against Trump and his mental state despite TV cameras not being allowed to broadcast.
“TV cameras weren’t allowed in the courtroom but it turns out they weren’t necessary—the video of Donald walking into the courtroom, all five seconds of it, was all we needed to figure out his state of mind. Before the arraignment, I said Donald would be docile in the courtroom seated before the judge. And during that brief glimpse, we saw the uncertainty, the fear, and the humiliation,” Mary L. Trump said.
She predicted that once out of the court setting Trump would return to his normal harsh rhetoric.
“The false bravado will return, and the middle-of-the-night posts will continue to be unhinged but Donald Trump has finally gotten a glimpse of what it looks like when his past, finally, at long last, catches up with him—and he’ll never be able to outrun it.Here are a few examples,” Mary L. Trump said.
She was right. In his post-arraignment speech, Trump attacked Bragg, New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, who presided over his arraignment, Fulton County DA Fani Willis, who is investigating Trump for the 2020 election interference in the State of Georgia and Special Counsel Jack Smith, who’s investigating Trump’s handling of classified documents.
Trump’s words comes after the judge warned him against making statements that could inflame the public and trigger violence.
Other Reactions on Twitter
The wall America needs! pic.twitter.com/Gy7kslDsVr
— ????GreenGoddess???????? (@pcmaneri) April 4, 2023
“For those keeping score at home— Hillary Clinton: 0 felony counts Joe Biden: 0 felony counts Hunter Biden: 0 felony counts Dr. Fauci: 0 felony counts Barack Obama: 0 felony counts Donald Trump: 34 FELONY COUNTS.” Jeff Tiedrich
Donald Trump finally has something that Obama doesn't: a criminal record
— Jeff Tiedrich (@itsJeffTiedrich) April 4, 2023
Call to Activism pointed out Trump’s loneliness at the court, not surrounded with family as he often was during his powerful moments.
When I see this image of Donald Trump walking alone to face the criminal charges against him, what stands out to me is how alone and small he looks.
No Melania.
No Ivanka, Junior, or Eric behind him.
Just alone and small.
The irony is not lost on us that Donald Trump… pic.twitter.com/MKkPM5fhqX
— CALL TO ACTIVISM (@CalltoActivism) April 4, 2023
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