Preparing for Trump: The Manhattan district attorney and the courthouse hush money investigation of a former president and 2020 White House candidate with Stormy Daniels
Typically, after defendants are arrested, they are booked and held in cells near the courtroom before they are arraigned. But that won’t happen with Trump. Once the former president is finished being processed, he’ll be taken through a back set of hallways and elevators to the floor where the courtroom is located. He will walk into the courtroom from the public hallway.
The expected voluntary surrender of a former president and 2024 White House candidate will be a unique affair in more ways than one – both for the Manhattan district attorney’s office and the New York courthouse where he’ll be arraigned and for a nation watching to see how it’ll shake up the GOP presidential primary.
Despite the initial shock of the indictment, Trump has remained surprisingly calm and focused in the days ahead of his court appearance, CNN’s Kristen Holmes reported.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office has been investigating Trump in connection with his alleged role in a hush money payment scheme and cover-up involving adult film star Stormy Daniels that dates to the 2016 presidential election. Trump and his allies have already attacked Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg – and an advertised Tuesday night speech back at Mar-a-Lago will likely given Trump more opportunity to claim he’s being political persecuted.
Trump is expected to leave Florida around noon ET on Monday, landing at New York’s LaGuardia airport around 3 p.m. ET, according to a source familiar with his plans. The source said that the former president is expected to go back to Florida immediately after Tuesday’s court appearance in New York.
But even before Trump’s appearance, his presence will be felt in the Manhattan courthouse Tuesday, as all trials and most other court activity is being halted before he is slated to arrive.
Trump’s fingerprints will be taken when he is booked by the investigators. Ordinarily, a mug shot would be taken. But sources familiar with the preparations were uncertain as to whether there would be a mugshot – because Trump’s appearance is widely known and authorities were concerned about the improper leaking of the photo, which would be a violation of state law.
“Obviously, this is different. This has never been done before. I have never had the Secret Service involved in a trial at 100 Centre Street, according to Trump lawyer Joe Tacopina. “All the Tuesday stuff is still very much up in the air, other than the fact that we will very loudly and proudly say not guilty.”
Ordinarily, a defendant who is released would walk out the front doors, but Secret Service will want to limit the time and space where Trump is in public. When the court hearing is over, Trump will walk through the public hallway and back to the district attorney’s office, where his motorcade will be waiting.
Several media outlets, including CNN, have asked a New York judge to unseal the indictment and for permission to broadcast Trump’s expected appearance in the courtroom on Tuesday.
In order to ensure that the operations of the court will not be disrupted, the news organizations have asked for a small number of photographers, videographers, and radio journalists to be present at the arraignment.
Merchan, an acting New York Supreme Court justice, has sentenced Trump’s close confidant Allen Weisselberg to prison, presided over the Trump Organization tax fraud trial and overseen former adviser Steve Bannon’s criminal fraud case.
Merchan does not stand for disruptions or delays, attorneys who have appeared before him told CNN, and he’s known to maintain control of his courtroom even when his cases draw considerable attention.
During an interview with CNN Friday, Trump attorney Timothy Parlatore said that he was not easy on him when he tried a case before him but that he will be fair.
“I’ve tried a case in front of him before. He could be a tough guy. I do not believe that this will change his ability to evaluate facts and the law in this case.
The president will plead not guilty, according to Tacopina. He said his team will look at every potential issue that they can challenge.
The Trump team’s court strategy could center around challenging the case because it may rely on business record entries that prosecutors tie to hush money payments to Daniels seven years ago, beyond the statute of limitations for a criminal case. Tacopina suggested in TV interviews Sunday the statute of limitations may have passed, and said the Trump businesses didn’t make false entries.
The case is not currently going to be moved to another New York City suburb, Tacopina said. “There’s been no discussion of that whatsoever,” he told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos in another interview Sunday. “It’s way too premature to start worrying about venue changes until we really see the indictment and grapple with the legal issues.”
Trump’s political advisers over the weekend were actively discussing how to best campaign off the indictment they have portrayed as a political hoax and witch hunt, according to sources close to Trump.
His team has spent the last several days presenting the former president with polls showing him with a growing lead over Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, currently considered Trump’s biggest 2024 rival, in a head-to-head match up. And his team says it has raised more than $5 million dollars since he was indicted Thursday.
Bragg was the target of attack before and after the indictment by many of Trump’s supporters and critics.
After announcing his presidential bid, former Republican Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson called for Donald Trump to withdraw from the race because he was facing criminal charges.
The office is more important than any single person. Hutchinson said in an interview that it was too much of a distraction for the office of the presidency. He needs to be able to concentrate on what’s important.
The Media Need Not Have a Camera in the Court Room: A Comment on the Indictment of the 2016 U.S. Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan
New York Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan rejected a request by several media organizations, including CNN, for permission to broadcast the historic proceedings.
It is undisputed that this indictment involves a matter of monumental significance. In the history of the United States, no President has ever been indicted on a criminal charge. Mr. Trump’s arraignment has generated unparalleled public interest and media attention,” he wrote. “The populace rightly hungers for the most accurate and current information available. It wouldn’t be disingenuous to suggest otherwise.
Merchan said that while the media’s request was understandable, the news organizations’ interests in providing the broadest possible access to the proceedings must be weighed against “competing interests.”
Lawyers for Trump urged the judge not to allow cameras in the courtroom. The judge was told that the Manhattan district attorney didn’t have a position.