Trump reacts to the accusation, assures that there is “no case” against him

hours after surrender to state authorities In New York, former US President Donald Trump addressed the public in a speech in which he assured: “I never thought something like this could happen.”

Trump gave the speech from his official residence, located in Palm Beach, Florida. The former president entered the room accompanied by the secret service, and walked down a corridor surrounded by supporters, whom he greeted as he went to the stage.

“The only crime I have committed is to courageously defend our nation from those who seek to destroy it,” said the former president, charged with 34 counts for falsifying business records.

The investigation against the former president includes the payment of bribes to three people, according to the prosecutor. One of them, the porn actress Stormy Daniels, who received $130,000 to buy her silence about an alleged affair with Trump a decade earlier.

Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney in charge of the investigation, detailed earlier that Trump repeatedly made false statements in New York business records, a practice he called “criminal.”

The events would have occurred when the former president falsely claimed that he was paying Michael Cohen, his former lawyer and mediator, for legal services performed in 2017 when, in reality, he would be reimbursing payments made before the presidential elections to silence negative information and “improve the chances ” of Trump to win the race.

“Everyone who has looked at this case, including staunch Democrats, says there is no crime and it should never have been brought up. Even people who are not exactly supporters have said that this is not the right thing to do,” Trump said. “It is an insult to our country.”

The accusation, which was made public during the arraignment in front of Judge Juan Manuel Merchan, lists 34 crimes of falsifying business records and the dates on which they occurred. During his speech, the former president accused Merchan of being a “judge who hates Trump.”

“This accusation that came out is ridiculous. Everyone said it’s not really an accusation. There is nothing here,” Trump added, before calling Bragg a “criminal” for, according to him, illegally leaking “massive amounts” of information from the grand jury that initially investigated the case.

The speech continued with attacks typical of an election campaign, in which he returned to his usual attacks on the management of the Biden Administration and his unsubstantiated claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him.

During the hearing, Judge Merchan did not issue a gag order on the case, so neither party is prohibited from discussing the process. However, Merchan warned Trump and his legal team, as well as the prosecution, not to make statements that could incite violence.

Prosecutor Bragg said in his statements to the press that the illegal scheme in which Trump would be involved also includes violations of New York electoral law, as well as providing false information to tax authorities.

“We cannot and will not normalize serious criminal behavior,” Bragg said.

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