Former President Trump expected in court on Tuesday
(WFSB) - Donald Trump has agreed to surrender and will be arraigned on criminal charges this Tuesday.
He has been indicted for falsifying records for the purpose of concealing another crime.
Trump has now become the first former president to be charged with a crime.
He is charged for his role in hush-money payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels during his 2016 presidential campaign in order to suppress her story of their alleged affair.
“He’s going to go to the courthouse, he’s going to be escorted to the booking area, he’ll be fingerprinted, he will be photographed,” said Chris Mattei, Attorney.
Chris Mattei, a former prosecutor, expects trump’s arraignment to be like any other with no special treatment.
But the one thing that will be very different is that Trump will have a secret service detail with him.
“He’ll be in the courtroom before a judge and enter a not guilty plea, and then the court will set a schedule for a trial,” said Mattei.
Mattei has a lot of experience in high-profile criminal cases.
He won a conviction against former Connecticut Governor John Rowland, and he represented Sandy Hook families winning close to a billion dollars against right-wing talk show host Alex Jones.
As for Trump, we could see him in handcuffs.
“You would expect the judge to set some bail amount. It will probably be done by agreement between prosecutors and trumps attorneys, and he’ll be released,” Mattei said.
There will be a lot of media and police.
“NYC will take security precautions because Donald Trump has already tried to rile up his supporters to defend him and come out in protest,” Mattei added.
The chairman of Connecticut’s republican party equates this indictment to a witch-hunt.
“District Attorney Bragg, with the cooperation of the Department of Justice, is weaponizing his office and the judicial system to persecute those individuals who do not believe in (and stand up to) the Democrats’ agenda”
Mattei, however, says if Trump broke the law, he should face penalties like anyone else.
“It’s serious. Now, is it as serious as the potential charges he’s facing from the special counsel’s office which relate to the effort to subvert our democracy? Probably not. But just because one crime is not as serious as another doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be charged,” Mattei said.
It seems the former president is using the indictment to raise money.
Trump is using his newly restored Facebook page to run ads criticizing the indictment and calling on his supporters to help him with campaign donations.
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