The Mueller investigation of the alleged role of Stormy Daniels in a hush-money scheme: an attorney for the former president and the charge for a misdemeanor

Donald Trump will look to challenge every potential issue in his indictment after it is released, an attorney for the former president said Sunday.

“We’re not doing anything at the arraignment because that would be showmanship and nothing more because we haven’t even seen the indictment yet. Joe spoke on the show about the potential issues the team will look at and challenge.

The never-before-seen spectacle of a former president showing up for a first court appearance will transfix the nation on Tuesday. He said he was still waiting for some details of what would happen. But the complexities of arraigning a former president under close Secret Service protection means that this is no ordinary case – even if justice suggests Trump should be treated like any other citizen.

The lawyers promised to ask for the charges to be thrown out. The full slate of charges isn’t known. And crucially, a judge will ultimately determine if the law is sound enough for the case to move forward to trial.

Even though there is an indictment out, we will not know what the district attorney has in his possession, even if we think they have it, Cy Vance said in an interview with NBC News.

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.

The 2016 Indictment: Why Did the Former President Donald Trump Play Golf, Played Social Media, and Met with His Advisers During the Weekend?

“They’re not false entries. He said that they had to cobble them together in order to get a felony because they were beyond the statute of limitations.

“There’s been no discussion of that whatsoever,” he told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos in another interview. It’s premature to worry about venue changes until we see the indictment and discuss the legal issues.

Former President Donald Trump spent the weekend before his history-making arraignment playing golf, posting on social media, meeting with advisers, and calling and texting allies to tout the political positives of his recent indictment.

He disclosed fundraising numbers and internal poll numbers in these conversations, and vowed to fight the charges, according to more than half a dozen people who spoke with the former president or members of his inner circle this weekend.

The indictment that caught the ex- president and his advisers by surprise was reported Sunday night by CNN as being “surprisingly calm,” as he spent the weekend playing golf and pondering how to boost his campaign.

“[Trump’s] definitely pissed off and wants to take this on aggressively, but he has been pretty low-key for Trump,” one source familiar with the former president’s recent conversations said.

The former president saved his rage for his social media site, escalating his attacks on the Manhattan District Attorney and leveling threats. Last week, Trump also went after the judge he’s expected to appear in front of on Tuesday, claiming the judge “hates” him.

A source who has spoken to Trump in recent days said that he was thinking about what the future held for him, as well as how this could help him.

Sources said that on Saturday when he returned to the golf course, he stepped out and waved at the supporters gathered across the street.

Trump, his advisers and his people spent the weekend planning out what his week would be like, but the exact plan has not been finalized.

The New York Police Department and the Secret Service are working together to make sure Trump gets the security he wants. The district attorney’s office is located in the same building as the courthouse and Trump is going to be accompanied by the Secret Service in the early afternoon.

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.

Trump will be booked by the investigators, which includes taking his fingerprints. A mug shot is normally taken. Sources familiar with the preparations did not know if a mugshot would be taken because Trump’s appearance was so known and authorities were worried about the leak of the photo.

Against a White Man Who Has Come to Power: The High-Energy Donald Trump’s Comeback to New York After the Indictment

After days of fundraising off the indictment, including a video plea from the former president in both an email and Truth Social post, the team released a memo from campaign heads Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita saying they had raised more than $5 million in the 48 hours following the indictment.

Steven Cheung, campaign spokesman, said in a statement that there had been polls showing President Trump’s overwhelming support. The amount of money donated and the number of volunteer signups since the announcement of this witch-Hunt hoax is a sign that many Americans are sick of the justice system being weaponized against President Trump and his supporters.

An ally said that Trump knows that this is all political. This will increase his support.

Donald Trump, the first ex-president in history to face criminal charges, is headed to New York this week for an expected arraignment on Tuesday after being indicted last week by a Manhattan grand jury.

Donald Trump, the 45th president, is due to turn himself in in Manhattan on Tuesday, in the same area that he built his reputation as a real estate magnate and popular culture figure but which could now be used to engineer his downfall.

By the afternoon, Trump is expected to be brought to the courtroom, where the indictment will be unsealed and he will formally face the charges. After he is arraigned, Trump will almost certainly be released on his own recognizance. It is possible that his travel could have conditions set on it.

Yet a criminal indictment takes Trump into unique political territory. And however the case turns out, his return to the spotlight in these circumstances is another twist in an exhausting saga featuring a double impeachment, false claims of a stolen election, and a mob attack on the US Congress during an unruly four-year presidency that pushed the nation to the point of exhaustion and deepened its polarization.

Some legal experts have not seen the sealed indictment, but are wondering if it is serious enough to merit a case against an ex-president who is already running again.

A preview of a robust defense that will unfold against a backdrop of furious political campaign was given by Trump’s legal team ahead of Tuesday’s appearance. The new GOP majority in the House of Representatives could be used to try to interfere with Bragg’s prosecution. In an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Trump lawyer Joe Tacopina said the ex-president’s team would loudly and proudly declare he is not guilty and signaled an attempt to try to prevent the case ever from reaching trial.

While Trump’s critics have celebrated the indictment as a sign that no one is above the law, Tacopina argued that the ex-president was actually getting worse treatment than an ordinary citizen would because of his fame and political aspirations.

His numbers have gone up significantly, if he hadn’t been running for presidency, he wouldn’t have been indicted. Bragg has not made any public comments since the indictment came down last week.

“Michael Cohen is a pathological, convicted liar, perjurer. He’s lied to banks, the IRS, Congress,” Tacopina said. On “State of the Union,” Cohen’s lawyer Lanny Davis warned against a Trump defense shredding his client’s reputation. If he thinks he is building his whole strategy on personal attacks on Michael Cohen, Joe Tacopina has a wrong strategy.

Intense security is already in place in New York given the political sensitivities of the case and after Trump warned of potential “death and destruction” ahead of being charged, especially given his past incitement before the Capitol insurrection. Many of Donald Trump’s supporters have not shown up for his calls for protests.

The Hutchinson Shadow Campaign: A New, Dramatic, Divisive, and Disruptive Chapter in Trump’s Political Career

The shadow campaign run by the man who is yet to make a decision is based on the belief that he could offer Trump-esque policies without the chaos and distraction of the ex-president. Many Republicans are worried that an indicted GOP nominee could be a problem for them in the general election. Hutchinson, who is a Republican, announced on Sunday that he is running for president.

In a statement on Thursday, Trump showed that he will respond to this brush with political fate in the same way he has lashed out at previous threats in his business and political career – with fury and by seeking to use his political power to stir up huge disruption and partisan anger.

“I believe this Witch-Hunt will backfire massively on Joe Biden,” he said. The people of America know what the Radical Left Democrats are doing. Everyone can see it. So our Movement, and our Party – united and strong – will first defeat Alvin Bragg, and then we will defeat Joe Biden, and we are going to throw every last one of these Crooked Democrats out of office so we can MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

The approach he has taken means this Tuesday is likely to be the beginning of a new, dramatic, and divisive chapter in Trump’s political career and another extreme test for America.

For a nation watching to see how it will shake up the GOP, the expected surrender of a former president is going to be a unique affair as he will be charged with perjury in front of a Manhattan court and will be held at the New York courthouse.

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.

When defendants are arrested, they are booked and held in cells near the courtroom to await their court appearance. That will not 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’ll then come out to a public hallway to walk into the courtroom.

CNN, along with several other media outlets, has asked a judge to unseal the indictment in order to broadcast Trump’s court appearance on Tuesday.

The news organizations are asking for a “limited number of photographers, videographers, and radio journalists to be present at the arraignment,” and said in the letter that they are making “this limited request for audio-visual coverage in order to ensure that the operations of the Court will not be disrupted in any way.”

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.

Attorneys who had appeared before him told CNN that he doesn’t stand for disruptions or delays and that he keeps his courtroom under control even when his cases draw attention.

When he tried a case before the Trump attorney, he was not easy on him but he will likely be fair, said Timothy Parlatore during an interview Friday on CNN.

I tried a case in front of him before. He could be tough. I don’t think it’s necessarily going to be something that’s going to change his ability to evaluate the facts and the law in this case,” Parlatore said.

Tacopina told CNN’s Dana Bash Sunday that the former president will plead not guilty. His team “will look at every potential issue that we will be able to challenge, and we will challenge,” Tacopina said.

Hutchinson says he does not want to be a candidate for the office of the president, but she wants to stay that way

Bragg was attacked before and after the indictment by many of Trump’s allies, critics and likely opponents.

The office is more important than an individual person. So for the sake of the office of the presidency, I do think that’s too much of a sideshow and distraction,” Hutchinson said in an interview on ABC News. He has to be able to concentrate on his process.