The unprecedented indictment of a former president late last week is beginning to play out in New York.
Former President Donald Trump, protected by his Secret Service detail, left Florida yesterday to travel to Manhattan in order to voluntarily participate in the legal procedures involved.
Trump has vowed to fight all attacks against him, including this one pertaining to charges from 2016 about payments made to an accuser that had previously been put to rest.
Trump posted yesterday, “HEADING TO NEW YORK. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
Former President Trump voluntarily made his way to New York Monday under no threat of extradition as Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis stated clearly last week after the indictment was announced that the state would not cooperate with any request to extradite Trump.
“The weaponization of the legal system to advance a political agenda turns the rule of law on its head. It is un-American. The Manhattan District Attorney has consistently bent the law to downgrade felonies and to excuse criminal misconduct. Yet, now he is stretching the law to target a political opponent. Florida will not assist in an extradition request given the questionable circumstances at issue with this Soros-backed Manhattan prosecutor and his political agenda,” DeSantis said emphatically.
As the unprecedented situation plays out, the prosecution is seeking a gag order on the proceedings, presumable to keep the former president from letting the public know what is happening with the trial. But yesterday, a ruling from a Manhattan judge indicated allowances for some media.
Judge Juan Merchan ruled late on Monday night that he will allow five pool photographers to snap for several minutes before the arraignment formally starts on Tuesday around 2:15 p.m. Eastern Time. However, the judge declared that no cameras will be allowed in the courtroom, Conservative Brief reports.
“That this indictment involves a matter of monumental significance cannot possibly be disputed. Never in the history of the United States has a sitting or past President been indicted on criminal charges,” Merchan said.
The judge said he “needed to balance other interests” and that no electronic devices will be allowed in either the main or overflow courtrooms.
As previously reported by Republic Brief, Republicans are rallying around Trump as they see the situation as a political tactic by Democrats to keep Trump from once again obtaining the highest office.
Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz responded: “The Democrat Party’s hatred for Donald Trump knows no bounds. The ‘substance’ of this political persecution is utter garbage. This is completely unprecedented and is a catastrophic escalation in the weaponization of the justice system.”
Missouri GOP Sen. Josh Hawley said: “Tonight’s indictment of Donald Trump isn’t about the law. It’s about power. Raw power. It’s the Democrat Party telling the nation they will stop at nothing to control the outcome of the next presidential election. It is an assault on our democracy, pure and simple.”
Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor and 2024 GOP presidential candidate, tweeted: “From everything I have seen from this New York district attorney is that this would be something he’d be doing for political points. I think what we know is, when you get into political prosecutions like this, it’s more about revenge than it is about justice.”
Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz delivered a big update last week after he had a phone call with Trump.
“We will wake up in a very different America because we can no longer have moral authority against the dictators who would always find it easier to jail their political rivals than to compete against them in free and fair elections. I remember my Democrat colleagues about Comey making derogatory comments about Clinton before the election. This must ring a thousand times louder to them. I believe there are federal equities at play that the United States Congress is about to evaluate,” Gaetz added.
“We don’t want to resolve differences through violence but the Chinese communist party can pay every grifter but Donald Trump can’t pay Stormy Daniels without a legal dispute. There’s a legal element that’s not met by any evidence. They would have to prove that Donald Trump would have no reason other than the election to try to resolve this issue with Stormy Daniels privately and outside of the public sphere. I think a motion to dismiss will happen next. If this were ever to be tried, you could not do it in Manhattan. You would see a change of venue in upstate New York. Maybe it’s the only place Donald Trump could get a fair trial. I expect this will be resolved well before that by any court that looks at the way that the law is being tortured in the absence of any charge that would be maintainable against any human being on the Planet Earth other than Donald Trump and against Trump it’s clearly political,” he concluded.
