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Donald Trump pleaded “not guilty” to charges brought by the Manhattan court for various payments to conceal information, in the first criminal indictment against a former US president that could have consequences for his aspirations to return to the White House.
With information from our correspondent in New York, Silvia Sterin Pensel
Donald Trump pleaded not guilty to the more than 30 charges against him. His appearance before Judge Juan Merchán is an unprecedented event in the political history of the United States. The judge of Colombian origin accused him of 34 counts of “falsification of commercial records in the first degree” for paying three times to conceal information.
One of those payments, of $130,000, went to the porn star Stormy Daniels in the final stretch of the 2016 electoral campaign to keep quiet about an alleged extramarital affair that occurred ten years before and that he has always denied.
In front of the Criminal Court a crowd of supporters chanted his name, among them David Rem, who is convinced that all this has been orchestrated by the Democrats.
“If Mr. Donald Trump had said that he was not going to run for president in 2024, this circus of today and yesterday would never have happened. They would not have arrested him. This happened because they are so afraid of Mr. Donald Trump and facing him in 2024.” Rem told RFI.
To one side, separated from each other by fencing, were Trump’s opponents. Frank Osorno is a teacher and believes that all this has shown the great political division in the country. “I think it is a very difficult time for the country right now. And now we are seeing live the separation between the Democrats and the Republicans and it is very sad what is happening in this country,” he told the RFI correspondent in New York.
The docent also believes the arrest benefits Trump who is raising money among his base. “Maybe if he benefits because he is raising so much money from all the donations thanks to the publicity that [esta situación] draws them”.
Trump has set a dark precedent with this arrest, but it remains unclear what impact this will have on his presidential ambitions.