Trump attacks judge’s family, laments the country is ‘going to hell’

New York: Donald Trump has used his unprecedented arrest to ramp up his presidential campaign, branding the charges against him as an insult to the country and warning that America “is going to hell”.

Hours after he pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records as part of a broader scheme to stifle damaging information about his past affairs, Trump also launched a fresh attack on Manhattan District-Attorney Alvin Bragg, saying the Democrat should either be prosecuted or resign.

Former President Donald Trump speaks at his Mar-a-Lago estate.Credit:AP

“The only crime that I have committed is to fearlessly defend our nation from those who seek to destroy it,” Trump told supporters in a grievance-fuelled speech at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

“Even people that aren’t big fans have said this [indictment] is not the right thing to do. It’s an insult to our country as the world is already laughing at us for so many other reasons.”

The alleged broader scheme includes paying off two women and a doorman who claimed Trump fathered a child out of wedlock.

The central part of the charge relates to a $US130,000 (about $194,000 at current rates) hush money payment that Trump’s then-lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, paid to silence adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election. Daniels claims she had an affair with Trump in 2006, soon after he married his third wife Melania.

But Bragg and his team have also cited other shonky deals they say Trump made to suppress information that could have harmed his chances of becoming president.

One relates to a $US30,000 payment which was allegedly made to a former Trump Tower doorman who claimed to know Trump had a love child with his housekeeper.

Another involves a $US150,000 payment to former Playboy playmate Karen McDougal after the National Enquirer, then run by a Trump ally David Pecker, bought the rights to her story in order to silence it, in a practice known as “catch and kill”.

Manhattan prosecutors argue the former president made false statements to conceal the hush money payments to cover up another crime, which is what elevates charges from a mere misdemeanour under New York state law, to the more serious felony. The problem, pointed out by Republicans and legal experts alike, is that the indictment does not explain which federal or state crime has been violated.

“It’s half complete,” said Columbia Law School Professor John Coffee. “Nowhere in this indictment does he really tell us what the second crime was. They’ve left out the great big missing element in this puzzle.”

Trump gave his speech at around 8.15pm in Florida – about three hours after leaving Manhattan looking grim and chastened, after becoming the first former US president to be arraigned on criminal charges.

This time, however, he was surrounded by friends and fans, such failed Arizona governor candidate Kari Lake and longtime ally Roger Stone. Trump’s sons Don jr and Eric were in also in the audience, but his wife, Melania, was noticeably absent.

Like at his campaign rallies, Trump covered a lot of ground in his meandering remarks, referencing everything from Hunter Biden’s laptop to the possibility of an “all-out nuclear world war III”.

He also hit out at other investigations against him, including New York Attorney-General Letitia James’ civil fraud case – which is coming up later this year – and Special Counsel Jack Smith’s probe into his attempt to stop Joe Biden’s election victory from being certified.

And after the speech, Trump immediately fired off a fresh round of fundraising emails asking people to donate to his election campaign.

“They will not beat me. They will not break me. They will not stop me from fighting to save this country,” he wrote.

Outside the Manhattan court where he was charged, the reaction was mixed. Long Island resident Diane Lewis said she was surprised the charges were not thrown out of court, saying she believed the case was so weak it would ultimately help Trump’s election pitch.

“It’s gonna help his election campaign,” she told this masthead. “I thought he was a lock for the nomination anyway, even before this, but I think he’s definitely going to win now.”

Another woman, who only wanted to be referred to “Mary from Brooklyn” was furious.

“As Americans, how are we going to live this down?” she asked. “Everything that they’ve done to this man, President Trump, whether it be in office, out of office – they just don’t stop. This is the last ditch desperate measure by radicalised prosecutors that are trying to do everything to keep him out of the White House … But it’s not going to work. There was no crime, and that’s the point.”

Mark Elder, a New York resident, had a different view. Holding up a hand-made sign saying “MAGA, Lock Him Up”, Elder, who is black, explained: “If it was anyone else doing the same thing, charged with the same crimes, we would be locked up.

“So regardless of who he is, if he committed a crime here and the jury finds him guilty of that, then he deserves to be punished. I just want him held accountable.”

Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for the weekly What in the World newsletter here.

Most Viewed in World

From our partners

Source: Read Full Article