Last Tuesday, the world followed, for the first time in history, the procedures for the start of the first trial of a former US president, during which criminal charges (34 counts) were read out to him, each with a penalty of four years, and if approved, or some of them, could put him in prison for as long as remainder of his life.
Former President Trump, who became the accused Trump, remained in detention for a short period until procedures to prove his presence were completed, before he appeared before the judge. In the court session, it was proved that he was subject to the law, like any accused, so the charges were read out to him one by one, which he denied with the phrase: I am not guilty, for each one of them.
The important thing here is that all the charges, if taken on the apparent formalities of their description, do not amount to being criminal charges, but rather misdemeanors that do not require a prison sentence. The achievement of the Chief Prosecutor of the Manhattan District, in which these violations occurred, in his attempt to elevate the act of the committed violations from the rank of misdemeanors to the rank of felonies, by arguing that although they began as violations that could be described as misdemeanors by manipulating the accounts of the accused companies, they concealed the intention of fraud in preparation for exploiting them in the commission of punishable crimes. New York State law, particularly that of the Borough of Manhattan, New York City.
It remains for the judiciary to adopt this legal (criminal) interpretation that the chief prosecutor argues with, in exchange for the defense of the accused Trump, and the decisive factor is to convince the jury, when the trial sessions are held, of any of these points of view. The first session was booked to start the trial next December, which indicates the length of the trial sessions, perhaps beyond the date of the next presidential elections, November 2024.
What was leaked from the hearing of the charges against the accused, Donald Trump, the judge warned him not to cause any disturbance or any form of chaos in the session, otherwise the judge will remove him from the hall by force and may order his imprisonment, and the session will continue its work without him. The judge also warned Trump, the accused, not to try to influence the court's work abroad, with any statements or threats to the court or the Public Prosecution, that could harm the safety of the judge and the Chief Public Prosecutor or their families… and may harm public peace.
As expected, the trial session ended without any surprises, and the accused, Donald Trump, left the court, to take his private plane to his residence in Florida. But in the evening, Donald Trump, as a potential candidate for the Republican Party in the November 2024 elections, did not resist going out to address his supporters, while he was accusing and insulting the Manhattan prosecutor and the judge of the court entrusted to him to preside over it, as if he had not heeded the judge’s warning to him, hours ago! Irresponsible behavior on the part of the accused, in the least estimating its consequences, harming his position in the trial, as well as complicating the case and placing his lawyer in great embarrassment, in the event that the judge did not act on his warning against him.
It seems that Donald Trump, after he became accused and no longer bears the title of former president, has decided to proceed with his controversial method, in behavior akin to political suicide, without caring about the consequences of this on his political future or the future of his party. He may be in his estimation: there is nothing left for him but to exploit his supporters among the conservatives who are obsessed with his extremist populist racist theses, and play with them to the end, and he says: on me and my enemies and friends, and destroys the temple on everyone.
Donald Trump, who has become accused of criminal cases, has the right to be treated as a guilty party whose guilt has not yet been proven, but his political future, let alone his chances of winning the 2024 presidential elections, not even winning the Republican nomination for him by running in those elections, is getting away day by day from the possibilities of happening. This is if he does not spend the rest of his life behind bars, given that he faces more serious charges than those that were read to him in the Manhattan Circuit Court last Tuesday, and the procedures for which have not yet begun.
Talal Saleh Banan