Former US President Donald Trump called congressional republicans to defund the Department of Justiceone day after a New York judge read him the charges for which he was indicted by a jury in relation to black payments to a pornstar during the electoral campaign with which he came to power in 2017.
“Republicans in Congress should defund the DOJ (Department of Justice) and the FBI until they come to their senses”the Republican tycoon proclaimed in capital letters on his Truth Social social network, reiterating that he is innocent and that the cause for which he is being prosecuted is politically motivated.
“Abuse of power”
The ruling Democratic Party is “viciously using the abuse of power to interfere in elections,” he said. Trump, who intends to run in 2024 for a second term after losing the 2019 election to President Joe Biden.
“Almost every legal and political analyst has said that the unfair and morally repugnant accusation brought against me yesterday HAS NO MERIT, and is not even a case. there was no crime“, he added.
Since his departure from power, Trump, 76, He has faced accusations of various kinds, the most serious for the assault on the Capitol, the Congress building, in January 2021 by a crowd of supporters of the former president to prevent the certification of Biden’s electoral victory. In addition, a prosecutor is investigating his handling and custody of classified documents after leaving the White House.
The cause
In the case for which he appeared before the Justice yesterday and left his fingerprints and photos recorded, indicted on 34 counts related to falsifying business records in $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels in the final stretch of the 2016 electoral campaign, in order for her to keep secret an alleged extramarital relationship that occurred 10 years earlier and that he always denied.
The next hearing in the case was set for next December 4 and trial is expected to begin in January 2024. Both the former president, who pleaded “not guilty,” and his lawyers rejected the case. Even Trump did not stop insisting that it was a “witch hunt”.
A conviction would not necessarily prevent Trump from running or winning the presidency in 2024since in the United States a criminally accused or convicted person can run for any office and be elected.
The Constitution establishes an exception: having participated in an “insurrection” or a “rebellion” against the countrya scenario that is not ruled out entirely, given that Trump is the subject of a federal investigation for his role in the assault on the Capitol.
The future
Trump’s impeachment has the entire United States wondering what now? The race for the White House in 2024 is more uncertain than ever and so is the judicial calendar of the former Republican president. this while the other major contender, Democratic President Joe Biden, is taking his time announcing a candidacy that is taken for granted.
It remains to be seen if this case, one of many that worries the billionaire, will go to trial. Timing is critical to him as he hopes to win the Republican nomination for the November 2024 presidential election. Justice bets on an upcoming appearance at the end of the year and a trial in January 2024, just before the primaries, but the former president’s lawyers disagree.
“We will not go before a jury,” one of them told NBC on Wednesday, Joe Tacopina, convinced that the case will fall under its own weight due to legal difficulties. She called it a “zombie” case.
can campaign
Meanwhile, Trump, who has been released, can campaign as he pleases on the condition that he “refrain from comments that could incite violence” about his case, the judge warned him on Tuesday. Juan Merchanwho did not impose the “gag law”, an absolute prohibition on mentioning the procedure in public.
But moderation is not the tycoon’s forte, who yesterday called on Congress on his Truth Social network to “STOP FUNDING THE DOJ AND FBI” for what he considers an “ABUSE OF POWER”, referring to the Justice Department and the main federal law enforcement agency.