In his first public statement since pleading not guilty to an unprecedented 34-count indictment in a Manhattan court on Tuesday, former President Donald Trump declared that, as his legal team predicted, the New York County district attorney had “no case.”
“The hearing was shocking to many in that they had no ’surprises,' and therefore, no case,” he added. “Virtually every legal pundit has said that there is no case here. There was nothing done illegally!”
The former president and lead contender for the 2024 GOP nomination had earlier pleaded not guilty to an indictment brought by the Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat elected in a deep blue county who has a history of prosecuting Trump cases.
Bragg charged Trump with 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection to a 2016 payment for a non-disclosure agreement, commonly referred to as “hush money,” with adult entertainment actress Stormy Daniels facilitated by Michael Cohen, who was then Trump’s attorney.
Unprecedented
Trump’s attorneys have already indicated that they’ll file a motion to dismiss the case. Speaking to reporters outside the courthouse, they said the case is unprecedented not only because it concerns a former president but for other reasons as well.“A state prosecutor is prosecuting a federal election law violation that doesn’t exist according to federal election law officials,” said Joe Tacopina, one of three Trump attorneys who attended the hearing.
Meanwhile, Bragg said in a statement following the arraignment hearing that Trump falsified business records with an intent to cover up state- and federal-level crimes related to campaign contributions.
These alleged crimes include payments to Daniels and Karen McDougal, a model who received a payment from the publisher of the National Enquirer for the rights to her story about an alleged affair with Trump, Bragg claimed.
According to Trump, those payments weren’t made with campaign funds. The indictment doesn’t offer any evidence of Trump paying McDougal.
“Under New York state law, it is a felony to falsify business records with an intent to defraud and an intent to conceal another crime. That is exactly what this case is about, 34 false statements made to cover up other crimes,” Bragg said at the news conference.
“These are felony crimes in New York state, no matter who you are. We cannot and will not normalize serious criminal conduct.”
The judge, Juan Merchan, didn’t set a trial date. The prosecutors asked for the trial to take place in January 2024 and Trump’s attorneys requested April 2024.
Bragg’s office will have 65 days to file discovery materials. The defense will have until Aug. 8 to file all pretrial motions.
