Former US President Donald Trump arrived in New York ahead of his indictment hearing. Trump’s private plane landed at New York’s LaGuardia Airport yesterday afternoon (local time), TV images showed.
The Republican then drove to the Trump Tower in Manhattan. Trump is due to appear in court today following the unprecedented indictment against him. The New York police prepared for the court date with increased security precautions and warned demonstrators against violence.
Around 30 counts of impeachment against Trump
According to media reports, the indictment hearing in Manhattan, to which Trump must appear, is scheduled for today. Around 30 charges should therefore be brought against the 76-year-old. The background: Shortly before his election as president in 2016, Trump paid hush money to the porn actress Stormy Daniels. She claimed she had sex with him. Trump denies an affair, but not that money flowed. The payment could conflict with campaign finance rules.
Trump lives in the luxury Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. Television images showed a convoy of black vehicles taking Trump to the Palm Beach airport. From the side of the road, a number of supporters cheered for Trump, some waving US or Trump flags. A short time later, Trump was seen boarding his private plane and taking off.
Violence warning in New York
New York, meanwhile, was preparing for possible protests. “I want to remind everyone that violence and destruction are not part of legitimate, lawful expression,” said New York City Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell. Mayor Eric Adams said New York is not a “playground for misplaced anger.” Vandalism or violence would not be tolerated under any circumstances. The first protests, such as those by radical Republican and Trump supporter Marjorie Taylor Greene, have already been announced. Trump himself had called on his supporters to protest before the indictment was announced.
Trump’s attorney Joe Tacopina once again rejected the allegations over the weekend. “It was a personal issue, not a campaign issue,” Tacopina told CNN on Sunday. There is also no evidence of an alleged falsification of business documents. The indictment has so far been kept under wraps – the exact charges and details are therefore still unclear and will only become public when the indictment is read out.
For the court date in New York, Trump is likely to be briefly detained so that fingerprints and police photos can be taken of him. In these situations, the accused are often handcuffed – but it is very questionable whether this will happen in Trump’s case.
The ex-US President is using the indictment to once again present himself as a victim of a politically controlled judiciary and to mobilize his supporters, on whose votes he will depend when running for the 2024 presidential election. From a purely legal point of view, Trump could theoretically also stand as a convicted criminal in the 2024 election, as legal experts emphasize.
Republicans support Trump
Prior to the indictment, prominent representatives of the Republican Party backed Trump. Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy wrote on Twitter that Attorney Bragg had “instrumentalized our sacred legal system against President Donald Trump.” McCarthy is considered a Trump ally. Trump’s former deputy, ex-Vice President Mike Pence, also described the charges as a “scandal”. Pence told CNN: “This will only serve to further divide this country.”
A party colleague, however, openly opposed Trump: the former Republican governor of the state of Arkansas, Asa Hutchinson, called on Trump in an interview with ABC on Sunday to withdraw from the race because of the indictment. At the same time, Hutchinson announced his own candidacy for the presidency.