After the unprecedented indictment against Donald Trump, the former US President wants to appear in court in New York on Tuesday morning (local time). The 76-year-old announced this via the online network Truth Social, which he co-founded.
He will leave his private home in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, on Monday at 12 p.m. local time, Trump said. “On Tuesday morning, believe it or not, I’m going to the courthouse. This isn’t America as it should be!”
According to media reports, the indictment reading in Manhattan, to which Trump must appear, is scheduled for Tuesday. The case is about hush money payments to a porn actress (read more about this here). New York is preparing for a large crowd and demonstrations. The first protests have already been announced.
The President is using the indictment to once again present himself as a victim of an allegedly politically controlled judiciary and to mobilize his supporters, on whose votes he will depend when running for the 2024 presidential election.
Trump, who is the first ex-president in US history to face criminal charges, is said to have signaled his willingness to further escalate the attacks on District Attorney Alvin Bragg to advisers and staff. The British “Guardian” reported this, citing people close to him.
In more flowery terms – as participants would have described it – Trump gave out the slogan at the weekend to “rough ’em up” District Attorney Bragg politically. According to the newspaper, the statement is said to have been made on the sidelines of a strategy meeting in Mar-a-Lago. There it was discussed how to react to the indictment from a legal and political point of view.
The district attorney’s office in Manhattan announced charges against the Republican on Thursday evening. The legal step had been expected for a long time. Since then, Trump has left no doubt about going all out rhetorically.
Trump repeatedly dismissed the charges as “witch hunts” and defamed District Attorney Bragg as a “psychopath.” A post shared through Trump’s account on Truth Social showed the former president brandishing a baseball bat alongside District Attorney Bragg’s head. The post has since been deleted.
Former Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., who initiated the investigation that led to the indictment, condemned the attacks on his successor. “I have to say that I was disturbed to hear the former president speak the way he spoke about District Attorney Bragg and even the trial court for the past week,” Vance told NBC News on Sunday.
Vance, who left his post in late 2021, sees the possibility of further legal ramifications. Should Trump continue his attacks on Bragg and the justice system, that could influence the jury’s opinion. “If I were his attorney (…) I would be careful not to commit any other crime such as obstructing government administration through interference or threats,” Vance told the US broadcaster.
The exact charges and details are not yet known, at the latest when the indictment is read out on Tuesday, the public will also find out the details of the allegations against the former president.
Trump was initially surprised by the charges that several of his top advisers had sent him, the Guardian reported. According to the report, he was almost incredulous that prosecutors had actually charged him.
However, the initial shock quickly wore off and gave way to the plan to go on the offensive against the indictment and the public prosecutor. In addition, Trump has steadfastly maintained that he has not done anything illegal and has ruled out a possible admission of guilt.
Judge Juan Merchan, whom Trump accused on Friday of hating, is responsible for the proceedings. Merchan was “handpicked” by prosecutor Bragg and his colleagues. Merchan led a tax fraud case against the Trump Organization and its longtime chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg. Trump accused Merchan of having acted dishonestly at the time. Weisselberg had pleaded guilty before the actual trial and was eventually sentenced to five months in prison for tax crimes.
The fact that Trump is trying to make political capital out of the matter is not only shown by his increased calls for donations in the course of the indictment. According to the “Guardian”, Trump is said to have asked his team whether the obligatory “mugshot” – his police photo – could be printed on T-shirts and used as an election campaign motif for his supporters. According to the newspaper, it was an idea that his advisors were said to have been particularly enthusiastic about.
Sources: “The Guardian”, “NBC News”, “New York Post”, with material from the news agencies DPA and AFP
