A Trumping Trial
April 19, 2023
On April 4, 2023 former president Donald Trump surrendered himself to law enforcement and was arrested. Trump flew himself to New York to face these charges before Judge Juan Merchan. “In an indictment unsealed Tuesday, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg charged Trump with 34 felony counts for falsifying New York business records through a “catch and kill” scheme designed to conceal damaging information and unlawful activity before the 2016 election,” USA Today reported.
There are many reasons why this arrest is so controversial, news outlets report that Trump supporters criticized the arrest, standing outside the courthouse to protest. “The indictment was quickly criticized by Trump’s Republican allies, and even some legal experts raised questions about the case. CNN Senior Legal Analyst Elie Honig said that prosecutors will have to make their case that Trump committed felonies and not misdemeanors by showing that the falsified records were used to conceal another crime, which was not identified in the indictment,” CNN reports.
Despite this arrest, the former president has stated that this will not be a stain on his campaign in 2024, Trump has said that he hopes this will actually boost his chances of winning the election.
“After the arraignment, Trump immediately flew back to Florida. He held an event with his supporters Tuesday evening at his Mar-a-Lago resort, where Trump made his public case against the indictment and previewed how he intends to fight against the charges politically as he runs again for the White House in 2024,” CNN reports.
