On Tuesday, former President Donald Trump will appear in a New York court to hear the charges against him. This marks an unprecedented situation as even for defendants who come forward voluntarily, criminal cases in New York involve several hours of detainment. The former head of state will be formally arrested and prosecuted before appearing before a judge and hearing the criminal charges against him.
Trump faces multiple charges of falsifying business records, including at least one felony. A grand jury investigated money payments during the 2016 election campaign to quell allegations of extramarital sexual encounters. Both porn actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal claimed to have had sexual encounters with Trump years before he entered politics.
The former president has denied any wrongdoing, calling the investigation a “scam,” “persecution,” injustice, and a political cheap shot to harm his attempts to run as a presidential candidate in the 2024 elections. He is protected by the Secret Service, whose agents are with him at all times. Despite being asked to appear on Friday, his lawyers said the Secret Service needed more time for security preparations.
Alvin Bragg, the prosecutor who presided over the investigation, is a Democrat, while Trump is a Republican. No former president had been accused of a crime before, so there is no regulation for filing charges against him. Before the court date was announced, attorney Joseph Tacopina said Tuesday was the likely date for the filing.
Trump also faces other investigations with potentially serious legal consequences for him. In Atlanta, prosecutors are trying to determine whether Trump committed crimes when he tried to get Georgia officials to reverse their election loss to Joe Biden in 2020. At the federal level, a special prosecutor appointed by the Department of Justice is investigating Trump’s attempts to rig the results of the national election. Additionally, there are questions surrounding why Trump kept secret government documents at his Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago, and whether he or his representatives tried to obstruct that investigation.
It remains to be seen what the outcome of the charges against Trump will be, but it is a unique situation for a former president.
