NEW YORK – Even for a city accustomed to celebrity appearances, the two-day visit during which Donald Trump being prosecuted in Manhattan is probably an amazing sight:
it will be protests and celebrations a full police presence and a deluge of media attention as America’s first president is indicted for a crime.
Trump is expected to arrive in New York on Monday from his Florida estate and head to his former home of Trump Tower, where he began his 2015 run for president by descending a gilded escalator.
The exact time of the ex-president’s arrival was unclear, although he was expected to spend the night there before departing Tuesday in a lower Manhattan courthouse.
Law enforcement and outside experts warned of no serious threats from Trump supporters or opponents this week.
But authorities and New York police were preparing for protests near the courthouse and outside Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue, where barricades lined the streets during several blocks around the building on Sundays, among TV crews and onlookers.
At the same time, Trump’s legal team ruled against the indictment, which came following a grand jury vote in Manhattan on Thursday.
In an interview on Sunday about the program “This Week with George StephanopoulosOn ABC, Trump’s attorney Joe Tacopina called the impending charges “political persecution” and “a complete abuse of power” that the former president was willing to fight.
“AND a tough guy“said Tacopina, adding that he was looking forward “for this to move forward as quickly as possible to exonerate him.”
Trump, 76, is expected to turn himself into Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office Tuesday afternoon before the indictment at Manhattan’s towering Criminal Court building.
The apparition will take place in a room on the 15th floor, and Judge Juan M. Merchan, magistrate of the State Supreme Court, will be in charge of investigating the case.
The exact charges were not disclosed, although they relate to a payment made during the 2016 election to buy a porn actress’ silence. stormy danielswho claims she had a brief sexual relationship with Trump in 2006.
Trump denies the story.
Prosecutors are expected to charge Trump with falsifying company documents to hide the nature of the repayments from his former fixer, who had paid Daniels hush money.
A conviction probably would not enforce a minimum penalty to prison or prevent Trump from running for president.
But the impeachment has upended the American political landscape.
Trump, who led in most polls for the Republican nomination, attacked the impeachment as a partisan stunt by Bragg, a Democrat, saying it aimed to cripple his campaign.
His Republican rivals have largely echoed him.
Many Democrats have praised impeachment as trial that no one is above the law.
The case against Trump, which his lawyers say they want to go to trial, will likely be overseen by Merchan, a seasoned judge who also tried the Trump case. Allen Weisselbergformer CFO of the Trump Organization.
Weisselberg pleaded guilty to charges of tax fraud last year and testified against the company, which was found guilty of handing out off-the-books benefits to some of its top executives.
Trump, who will be fingerprinted and photographed, was sharply critical of Bragg and Merchan and announced he will return to Florida for a primetime speech from his compound sea-lakein Palm Beach, Tuesday night.
Jason Miller, a top Trump adviser, told Newsmax on Sunday that the speech would show “how fervent he is.”
“President Trump is very encouraged; he is very strong; he feels the support of all the people behind him,” Miller said.
As the indictment nears Tuesday, the police department let officers know they could be called in for crowd control, and court officials and security officersthe secret service they planned routes for Trump to enter and exit the courthouse building on Center Street without incident.
The area had to stay practically closed before the appearance, with traffic cuts, perimeter demarcation and patrols.
Lucian Chalfen, a spokesman for the New York courts, said Sunday that court officials are working with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, including the Secret Service, “to ensure safety in and around 100 St Center and all city courts,” adding that officials “have been on a heightened state of alert for the past two weeks.”
All Supreme Court trials at 100 Center St. will be adjourned Tuesday afternoon for reduce foot traffic, Chalfen said.
Trump supporters have called rallies in a park across the street from the building as other events escalate, including a scheduled “homecoming” rally at Trump Tower on Monday morning.
On Tuesday, Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene, a conservative second-term Georgian Republican and a staunch Trump supporter, is expected to speak at a rally sponsored by the Young Republican Club of New York, which says it expects several hundred people to protest. what he calls a “blatant attack” on Trump.
Gavin Wax, president of the club, said on Sunday the rally was meant to chastise Bragg for ‘wasting taxpayer resources on what is effectively a political witch hunt for an accounting violation that probably has no victims.”
“Never before have we arrested and indicted a president, much less a president who is also the presumptive candidate, in this country,” he said.
“This is new and uncharted territory.”
c.2023 The New York Times Society
Source: Clarin
Mary Ortiz is a seasoned journalist with a passion for world events. As a writer for News Rebeat, she brings a fresh perspective to the latest global happenings and provides in-depth coverage that offers a deeper understanding of the world around us.