A new report is providing fresh information on exactly what the indictment against Donald Trump contains. According to an exclusive garnered by Yahoo News, the former president will face 34 felony counts for falsification of records related to the payoff made to porn star Stormy Daniels.
(Related: OPEN THREAD: Ongoing Trump Indictment Coverage)
The arrest will officially happen on Tuesday, a fact already known given Trump traveled to New York on Monday to prepare to surrender himself.
Donald Trump will be placed under arrest on Tuesday and informed that he has been charged with 34 felony counts for falsification of business records, according to a source who has been briefed on the procedures for the arraignment of the former president.
A New York City Police arrest report summarizing the charges against Trump will then be prepared and entered into the court system before he is led into a courtroom to be formally arraigned on the charges, none of which are misdemeanors.
The number of counts is probably more for show than substance. In the end, if Trump is convicted, he still would face the prospect of little jail time, perhaps only receiving probation. That’s assuming DA Alvin Bragg can get his novel theory to elevate this to a felony past the judge. It’s perfectly possible Trump’s legal team, which is actually formidable this go around, wins the argument, and the entire case is tossed before it goes to trial.
As to whether Democrats will get the iconic mug shot they are longing for, the answer there appears to be no. Bragg has decided it’s not necessary.
But, the source said, Trump will not be put in handcuffs, placed in a jail cell or subjected to a mug shot — typical procedures even for white-collar defendants until a judge has weighed in on pretrial conditions. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office, which has been consulting with the Secret Service and New York City court officials, concluded that there was no reason to subject the former president to handcuffs or a mug shot.
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That’s actually a coy political play by Bragg. He knows that Trump wants that mug shot as much as the talking heads on CNN want it. It would be a marketing boon for him. Bragg apparently wants to deny him that small victory, and I’m sure the judge involved is going to do his best to keep things tamped down as well.
Hilariously, after this report leaked to Yahoo News, Trump took to Truth Social to suggest that Bragg should indict himself.
Donald Trump on Truth Social: pic.twitter.com/EoRVut2WZu
— ALX 🇺🇸 (@alx) April 4, 2023
This is Trump at his best. He’s not accusing Ron DeSantis, a fellow Republican, of being a pedophile or ranting about McConnell’s wife (who he has a weird obsession with). He’s just taking shots at Democrats and using his sense of humor in the process. I wish he’d stick to that more often. It reminds me of simpler times before the insanity of the current primary season kicked off.
Of course, what’s funny to me isn’t really relevant to his legal troubles. I was listening to an explainer on the novel theory being used in this case on Monday evening, and it reminded me of just how stupid it is. It’s truly one of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard in a legal sense. But the problem remains that this is Manhattan, a liberal bastion with an incredibly tainted jury pool. If Trump can’t get a change of venue, something that is rarely given, he might be convicted no matter what the evidence says.
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