Will Donald Trump be bound in court? Will he face a humiliating turn of events? And can he skip his first performance and do it via Zoom?
We may have answers to these questions as early as Tuesday, when Trump could become the first former US president to be indicted – the American deadline for prosecution.
A New York grand jury is expected to decide whether Trump will be charged with allegedly paying “hush money” to cover up an intimate encounter with former porn star Stormy Daniels.
The former president said he expects to be arrested on Tuesday.
This announcement will be of great importance to America and will have far-reaching implications, not least for the 2024 presidential election in which Trump is running.
It will test Mr. Trump’s brand like never before and could bolster diehard Trump supporters, but risk spooking voters in battlefield states.
Trump is accused of falsifying company documents to pay $130,000 (£106,000) for silence ahead of the 2016 election.
It took years to investigate his indictment, and the Manhattan Attorney’s Office is the office that will handle the case.
But the most pressing issues are the logistical and security issues associated with bringing the former president to trial for his first appearance, or, in US terminology, to court.
After Trump took to social media to demand that his supporters “take back our nation,” the New York City Police Department (NYPD) erected barricades outside the Lower Manhattan courthouse in anticipation of unrest.
The NYPD took a similar approach when New York City hosted the UN General Assembly, locking off much of Manhattan from vehicular traffic and requiring everyone to have a pass to enter, according to reports Monday night.
There is speculation that the hearing could be held remotely for security reasons, but the prospect of one of the largest cases in modern U.S. history taking place on Zoom does not seem right.
If Mr. Trump is treated like any other defendant, he will have to fly from his home in Florida to New York and stand trial in criminal court.
He will be taken by elevator to a room where his photographs and fingerprints will be taken, and he will be officially logged into the system.
Usually, the accused are led through the corridors of the court in handcuffs and interrogated by photographers and journalists.
While Mr. Trump will likely have to navigate such a crowd, he will reportedly avoid handcuffs and have a dozen Secret Service agents at his side.
He will almost certainly be released on bail as well, although it remains to be seen whether he will have to stay in New York or be allowed to travel.
The reaction of the Republican establishment to this case was a delicate combination of criticism of the prosecutor’s office and calls for peace.
Aware of the creation of another on the streets of Manhattan on January 6, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said “no one should hurt each other” and stated that Trump feels the same way.
Mike Pence, Trump’s vice president who will almost certainly run against him in 2024, called the accuser “politically charged,” one of the few nice things he’s said about his ex-boyfriend in recent weeks.
Even Ali Alexander, one of the organizers of the Stop Theft rallies that promoted Trump’s baseless theories about voter fraud in 2020, warned Trump supporters that they could face “jail or worse” if they spoke in New York.
Monday’s protest, organized by the Youth Republican Club of New York, was peaceful with only a few dozen people in attendance.
But New York Daily News reported that NYPD intelligence and counterterrorism chief Thomas Galati said at a briefing that a group of Trump supporters would gather in front of Trump Tower in Manhattan on Tuesday and march to the courthouse.
According to Galati, they may be accompanied by a van arriving from Long Island.
Trump is already using the prosecutor’s office to raise money for his campaign, with the backing of Elon Musk, who has said he is guaranteed a second term if the case goes ahead.
For a candidate whose campaign is based on complaints and victimization, what could be more evidence that the Deep State is working against him than this?
But that’s not good for voters, and everyone agrees that it will hurt Mr. Trump’s chances against Joe Biden.
The very real possibility that Mr. Trump will go to jail — up to four years if found guilty on the pending charges — will frighten those suburban swing voters who decide the election.
The New York case is not the only legal threat facing Mr. Trump, who could be charged by Georgian prosecutors with election interference and a special prosecutor with illegally hiding classified documents after he leaves office.
It’s hard not to feel like this is just someone who counts “Teflon Don” among his nicknames.
The question is whether he can come up with another escape, as he has done so many times before.
Source: I News
I am Michael Melvin, an experienced news writer with a passion for uncovering stories and bringing them to the public. I have been working in the news industry for over five years now, and my work has been published on multiple websites. As an author at 24 News Reporters, I cover world section of current events stories that are both informative and captivating to read.