Donald Trump Describes Self As Victim Of Political Persecution
Afimag.com –
Following his indictment by Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, U.S Former President Donald Trump has described the 34 count charges preferred against him as a political persecution.
Trump who launched a blistering attack on “election interference at a scale never seen before” in the U.S, lamented that he was a victim of political persecution after he became the first former president to face criminal charges.
In his provocation speech in Florida, Trump chastised Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney who has brought the case, and the prosecutors investigating him across the country from Georgia to Washington.
His appearance limited a day of drama that started in New York when he was arraigned in a Manhattan courthouse and pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records.
Trump said the only crime he had committed was standing brave enough to defend United States of America against enemies and other people who wanted to destroy it.
Trump believed that the charges brought against him by Bragg are political undertones from Republicans who are committed to ruining his chances of recapturing the White House for the party in 2024.
Mitt Romney and John Bolton, persistent critics of the former president shared similar thought, depicting the case as politically motivated and short on substance.
“I believe President Trump’s character and conduct make him unfit for office,” said Romney, the Utah senator. “Even so, I believe the New York prosecutor has stretched to reach felony criminal charges in order to fit a political agenda.”
Bolton said, “Speaking as someone who very strongly does not want Donald Trump to get the Republican presidential nomination, I’m extraordinarily distressed by this document. I think this is even weaker than I feared it would be.”
Many Democrats were wary of cheering on Trump’s prosecution. “I believe that Mr Trump will have a fair trial that follows the facts and the law,” said Chuck Schumer, the Senate majority leader.
The judge presiding over the case in New York urged the former president to refrain from making comments that would “incite violence, create civil unrest, or jeopardise the safety or wellbeing of any individuals”.
However, Trump pulled few punches in his Mar-a-Lago speech, claiming that he would not receive a fair trial because of a “Trump-hating judge with a Trump-hating wife and family”. He also lambasted the special prosecutor investigating his role in the January 6 riots and handling of classified documents, describing him as a “lunatic”.
Fani Willis, a black local prosecutor in Georgia investigating his alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election result, was a “racist”, he added.
The indictment of Donald Trump
Follow the latest news and analysis on the indictment and arraignment of former US president Donald Trump who faces criminal charges in New York.
Some Democratic pundits suggested the vitriolic tone of speech could backfire. “I sort of agree that, in the short term, today’s indictment could help Trump politically. But this speech gives me pause,” David Axelrod, Barack Obama’s former political strategist, wrote on Twitter. “Does even his base want to hear this for the next two years or six?”
Earlier, Bragg accused Trump of masterminding an expansive scheme to suppress damaging stories that might have threatened his successful 2016 campaign.
This included arranging a $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels, an adult film actress, made 12 days before Trump took office, in order to bury a story about their alleged affair, Bragg’s office said.
Payments by Trump’s allies totalling $180,000 were also made to another woman alleging an affair — believed to be Playboy model Karen McDougal — as well as a former doorman at Trump Tower, according to a statement of facts provided by Bragg’s office.
However, the 16-page indictment was far narrower in scope, outlining alleged crimes linked to the recording of payments made in 2017 to reimburse Trump’s erstwhile lawyer Michael Cohen, who originally made the payment to Daniels using his own money.
“At its core, this case today is one with allegations like so many of our white collar cases, allegations that someone lied, again and again to protect their interests and evade the laws, to which we are all held accountable,” said Bragg.
He added that his office would “uphold our solemn responsibility to ensure that everyone stands equal before the law: no amount of money and no amount of power changes that enduring American principle”.
Trump launched a fundraising effort following the indictment. His senior adviser Jason Miller claimed the former president has raised more than $8m in the four days since a New York grand jury voted to indict him.