The 45th President of the United States, Donald Trump, said that the hearings in his case were shocking. He announced this in the social network Truth Social.
"The hearing shocked many: there were no "surprises" on their part, therefore, there are no grounds for the proceedings, as almost all legal experts say. Nothing illegal has been done!" wrote Trump.
As explained by the American media, the judge did not prohibit Trump from disclosing information on the case.
"I could not imagine that anything like this was possible in America. I never expected this," Trump said after the hearing. "My only crime is that I fearlessly defended our country from those who seek to destroy it."
The prosecution did not prevent Donald Trump from giving a speech at his residence in Mar-a-Lago in Florida. He once again rejected the accusations made against him, regarding them as an unprecedented intervention of the forces of the ruling US Democratic Party in the course of the presidential election campaign in order to deal a serious blow to political opponents.
Today, Trump is the favorite of the intra-party stage of the election race from the Republican Party. The US presidential election is scheduled for November 2024.
In addition to the charges against him, Trump also spoke on a number of other issues during the speech. In particular, he said that the United States is "going to hell," and under the Biden administration, a "third world war, a nuclear war" could begin.
Recall that Trump was charged with 34 counts, including forgery of business documents in order to hide kompromat and illegal activities. The New York prosecutor's office believes that he falsified documents in order to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election.
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As Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg explained, he brought these charges, which were abandoned by his predecessors, because he allegedly found new evidence and witnesses.
On April 4, Trump said in a New York court that he did not consider himself guilty. According to the totality of the charges, the former president could face up to 136 years in prison, according to Fox News. During the court session, Trump was formally arrested, but after reading the charges, the arrest was lifted.
The lawyer of the former American leader, Todd Blanche, called the trial a persecution for political reasons. The lawyer accused the prosecutor in the case of turning a "completely political issue" into "political persecution." According to Blanche, Trump is "disappointed" and "upset" about the situation. The lawyer stressed that the former US leader and his entourage will "fight with all their might."
Reaction to the persecution
The White House said that the situation around Trump is allegedly not the subject of attention of US President Joe Biden.
"The president will think first of all about Americans, which he does every day. This issue is not one of those on which he focuses attention, "said White House press Secretary Karin Jean-Pierre during a briefing.
However, as Stated by Senator Mitt Romney, bringing charges against Trump undermines the faith of the American public in the country's justice system. According to the lawmaker, the New York prosecutor "for the sake of a political agenda went too far" and went as far as criminal charges "in a serious crime."
According to a CNN poll, most Americans believe that bringing charges against Trump has a political background. As noted, 52% of respondents believe that in this situation politics plays a "major role", 76% admitted that "politics plays a role". And only 14% of Americans believe that the charges against Trump are not dictated by political motives.
The situation around the ex-president of the United States was also assessed in Moscow. As stated by the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, the measures of the American court in relation to Trump indicate a crisis of liberal ideology.
"This is called the crisis of liberalism. This is when a system that is declared to be absolutely free, in which there is nothing that would restrain the expression of human impulses ... ends with devouring or denying herself," Zakharova said on Radio Sputnik.
"They will continue to exert pressure"
According to analysts, a "real hunt" is being conducted on Trump, which has now intensified due to the start of the election campaign.
"This 'hunt' by both Democrats and the judiciary against Trump has been going on since 2016, but now it is becoming more active. Several investigations were conducted against him at once. But it is noteworthy that after a long lull, the New York prosecutor's office intensified the case immediately after Trump's statements about his readiness to participate in the upcoming US presidential elections in 2024. In this case, many did not like the fact that the accusations against Trump revolve around politics and the upcoming election campaign. Many spoke in favor of conducting a fair trial, "said Yuri Rogulev, director of the Franklin Roosevelt Foundation for the Study of the United States at Moscow State University, in an interview with RT.
According to him, this court case undermines citizens' confidence in the current government and the election system itself in the United States.
"Trump is an oppositionist, and therefore such an investigation is perceived as a fight against the opposition. Popular indignation is fueled by statements by lawyers about the nullity from a legal point of view of the accusations against the ex-president," the analyst emphasized.
At the same time, Rogulev noted, the White House is now trying to isolate itself from the case against Trump.
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"If it (the case. — RT) if trump falls apart, he will gain a huge political advantage. He will have all the "trump cards" in his hands before the upcoming elections. Further hearings in Trump's case are scheduled for December 4, and it will not get to court until January next year. Even if Trump is arrested, he will still be able to campaign," Rogulev said.
According to Vladimir Bruter, an expert at the International Institute for Humanitarian and Political Studies, the desire of the Democrats to eliminate him as a contender for the highest state post is clearly visible in the involvement of Trump in the trial.
"It is clear that this is a political order, and it will act until the moment when they manage to eliminate Trump as a competitor in the elections. If Trump can be "drained" in such a way that he withdraws himself, then the matter will simply be put on the brakes. If this does not work, Trump will continue to be pressured, "the expert said in a comment to RT.
Bruter explained why Trump's prosecution got a "second wind." He attributed this to the political ambitions of the former US leader.
"In Trump, many of his opponents are not satisfied with the inconsistency and the fact that he has his own plans and views that differ from the ideas of the ossified American political establishment," the expert concluded.