from ZeroHedge:
Update (1346ET): Trump has arrived at the Manhattan courthouse for his arraignment.
Former President Trump is being arraigned today on a reported 34 felony counts for falsification of business records in connection with a $130,000 payment made to former adult film star Stormy Daniels (real name Stephanie Clifford).
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Trump’s arraignment hearing is set to begin at 2:15 p.m. ET. According to Yahoo‘s Michael Isikoff (of Steele Dossier hoax peddling fame), Trump won’t be put in handcuffs, placed in a jail cell, or be subjected to a mugshot, after Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg’s office consulted with the Secret Service and New York City court officials.
The stated reason for handcuffing defendants is on the grounds that the suspect might be a flight risk or a threat to the district attorney or court personnel, neither of which were judged to be relevant to the handling of a former president protected at all times by a phalanx of Secret Service agents. -Yahoo
On Monday afternoon Trump landed at New York’s LaGuardia Airport, after which he spent the night at Trump Tower. His attorneys are expected to immediately file a motion to dismiss.
According to Trump attorney Joe Tacopina, rumors that the judge in the case will impose a gag order on Trump are false.
“Can’t be. Won’t happen. I don’t believe anyone is even looking for that. That would really set ablaze the passions and the tempers that already have been inflamed by this case. People view this as a political persecution,” he said.
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In response to the rumor, Rep Jim Jordan (R-OH) issued a statement saying that the House Judiciary Committee is “deeply concerned” over what would amount to an “unconstitutional gag order.”
On Monday Tacopina noted that Trump is dominating polls among GOP primary contenders, and said that Americans are growing “frustrated” with the case against the former president.
“They are now understanding that the weaponization of the justice system is a real thing. Attempting to gag a United States citizen that is a defendant, not a lawyer, not a litigant but a defendant in the case, especially—that’s a First Amendment violation obviously. It has to be balanced against a right to a fair trial,” he said. “But imagine putting a gag on Donald Trump when he’s the frontrunner for the Republican Party for the presidential office,” Tacopina continued.
“Imagine during the campaign he’s told, you know, ‘I can’t speak about the case.’ When people ask him questions, he has to just say, ‘sorry, I have a gag order.’ Obviously, that’s not going to happen.”
For an extremely cogent analysis from Jonathan Turley via his blog, see below (emphasis ours);
The 2024 presidential campaign technically began months ago with the first announced candidates. Yet April 4 will be “Super Tuesday” for America’s first carceral presidential campaign, with the arrest and arraignment of Donald Trump. With the exception of the socialist (and incarcerated) Eugene Debs in 1920, we have not faced the prospect of a president who could be elected with both a term of office and a term of imprisonment.
The New York indictment of Trump has been widely criticized as politically motivated and legally flawed. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg boasted during his 2021 campaign about being best suited to go after Trump, and he is making good on his boast with a highly dubious bootstrapped legal theory.
The New York indictment will face considerable challenges. Those challenges will likely take some time to resolve, and if this case follows the customary schedule of criminal matters, it still may be pending when Americans go to the polls to select the next president in 2024.
