The meeting, scheduled for 2:15 p.m. local time (9:15 p.m. Moscow time), has not yet started, and the charges have not yet been announced and published, so their exact content remains unknown. Trump himself on his social network Truth Social said that at the suggestion of New York prosecutor Alvin Bragg, he would be charged with 33 counts. Resource Yahoo News, citing sources from the prosecutor’s office, argued that each of the points provides for the possibility of a prison sentence of up to four years, although in the absence of a criminal record, a sentence lighter is generally chosen.
Trump moved a day early from his estate in Florida, where he usually lives during the cold season, to his skyscraper Trump Tower in New York. Photos of the ex-president boarding a private jet with his name written in large gold letters on the fuselage made the rounds in the American media the day before.
Trump had to be escorted to court by a double escort – these are employees of the US Marshals Service responsible for bringing the accused to court, and, on the other hand, US Secret Service agents who protect all former presidents for life. Under local law, the defendant should have been handcuffed at least temporarily, but press commentators suggested that due to Trump’s status as a protected person, this would be removed. Nevertheless, in court, the former head of the White House had to be photographed and fingerprinted.
Authorities in New York, fearing riots, have put police on high alert in recent days. The streets adjacent to the court were blocked, several rows of barriers were installed around the building.
After the meeting and the filing of charges, Trump, according to his press office, planned to make a speech. Upon arriving in New York, the ex-president made no statement, but had previously insisted emphatically on his innocence and called the process “political persecution and election interference at the highest level”.
Recall, according to the media, at the end of last week, a grand jury in New York), after hearing from an anonymous witness, found evidence against Trump sufficient to bring charges. He was allegedly accused of falsifying the Trump Organization’s financial records to compensate porn actress Stormy Daniels for remaining silent about her alleged sexual relationship with Trump in 2006. The episode with the payment itself took place in 2016 before the presidential election, in which Trump won a sensational victory.
According to American experts, payment and falsification of business documents are not considered criminal offenses, but the New York prosecutor’s office, presumably, wants to prove that the falsification of documents was carried out in order to hide another violation, and it is already a criminal article. Regardless of prosecutors’ and judges’ motives, indicting Trump will obviously be one of the central campaign topics ahead of the 2024 presidential election, in which Trump is still seen as the Republican Party’s leading contender.
Democrats have come under heavy criticism from some Trump allies for turning the US justice system into a political weapon. Others, like Fox News commentator Sean Hannity, are convinced the process will only add popularity to the ex-president and send him back to the White House.
To Americans, judging by opinion polls, there are mixed feelings about the lawsuit. According to a CNN poll, the majority of citizens (60%) support filing charges against Trump, but 76% of those polled believe the case is politically motivated.
The politicization of justice, of which independence in the United States was customary to pride itself, has lasted for more than a year. Trump’s opponents once turned his presidency (2017-2021) into an endless series of politically motivated lawsuits against him. He became the first president in US history to be impeached twice. Numerous investigations have been carried out against him and his supporters.
In this sense, the filing of charges against Trump, even if it is the first precedent of this type, does not cause much surprise. It has long been clear that his opponents would cross every red line of American politics to politically destroy Trump, whatever the consequences.
