Donald Trump has lashed out at “Joe Biden’s crooked henchman” as the former president prepares to start his hush money trial of Stormy Daniels in New York.
In a post on his Truth Social page, the 77-year-old said: ‘Tomorrow morning I will be standing in criminal court, before a completely contradictory judge, a corrupt prosecutor, a justice system in CHAOS.
“A state overrun by violent crime and corruption, and Crooked Joe Biden’s henchmen ‘Rigging the System’ against his political opponent, ME!
“I will fight for myself, but, more importantly, I will fight for our country.
“Election interference like this has never happened before in the U.S. and hopefully will never happen again.” We are now a nation in serious decline, a failing nation, but soon we will be a great nation again.”
Trump faces 34 felony charges stemming from allegations that he falsified company records in an attempt to cover up an alleged sexual encounter with the porn star that took place a decade before he ran for president in 2016.
The case centers on approximately $130,000 paid to Daniels ahead of the presidential election to keep her quiet about their alleged affair
In his post, Trump said New York state was governed by “Biden’s cronies” who are “manipulating the system against him”
Stormy Daniels with Donald Trump in 2006, at the time of the alleged affair
The former president’s trial could be the first of four criminal charges against Trump to go to trial this year as he runs for a second term in the White House.
The case centers on approximately $130,000 paid to Daniels ahead of the presidential election to keep her quiet about their alleged affair.
In the indictment first filed against Trump in April 2023, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg accused the ex-president of falsifying New York corporate records to hide damaging information and illegal activities from voters.
Bragg claims that Trump and others participated in a “catch and kill” scheme to bury negative information about him and went to great lengths to conceal his conduct, including creating dozens of false entries in company documents to cover up criminal activity hide.
Trump pleaded not guilty to all 34 charges last spring.
Although prosecutors have not released an official list of potential witnesses to take the stand, his attorney Michael Cohen is among the people in Trump’s former orbit expected to testify in the trial.
Cohen, Trump’s personal lawyer and fixer who has become a harsh critic, is expected to take the stand as his activities are at the center of the hush money case.
Trump claimed he paid Cohen for legal services he provided in 2017 with nine months’ worth of payments, but the Manhattan district attorney’s office claims the ex-president reimbursed Cohen for the $130,000 payments he ordered Cohen to make Daniels prior to the 2016 election.
Prosecutors allege Cohen also worked with the publisher of the National Enquirer to give former Playboy model Karen McDougal $150,000 to thwart her stories of sexual encounters with Trump in a practice known as catch-and-kill .
New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg speaks after Trump appeared at the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse following his indictment following an investigation into hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels
Daniels, aka Stephanie Clifford, is also expected to testify in the trial as the woman at the center of the hush money case
Trump’s eponymous company then paid Cohen back $420,000 in a handful of installments, prosecutors said.
Last month, Trump’s legal team tried to stop Cohen from testifying. Trump’s lawyer argued in court that Cohen had a history of lying and would lie again at trial.
In 2018, Cohen pleaded guilty to violating campaign finance laws regarding Daniels’ payments and lying before Congress.
He was sentenced to prison in December and served thirteen and a half months behind bars and a year and a half in home detention.
Before the hush money case, Cohen told the Playbook Deep Dive podcast that he thinks people will be surprised by the supporting evidence presented in the case.
Daniels, also known as Stephanie Clifford, is expected to testify in the trial as the woman at the center of the hush money case.
Daniels, 45, claims she had a sexual encounter in 2006 with Trump, who was already married to Melania Trump at the time.
Michael Cohen arrives at the New York Supreme Court in New York on October 25, 2023
Trump (L) awaits the start of a hearing at the New York Criminal Court in New York, New York, USA, March 25, 2024
Daniels told 60 Minutes in 2018 that she met Trump at an event in Nevada in 2006 and he invited her to dinner.
She said she met him in his hotel suite, where they had sex. Daniels said Trump later invited her to other events in New York and California.
Prosecutors allege that Trump’s fixer Michael Cohen wired Daniels’ lawyer the $130,000 in October 2016, just before the election, to keep her quiet about their encounters, fearing it could hurt his chances of winning the presidential election.
Trump denies having an affair with Daniels. At a press conference at Mar-a-Lago on Friday, he said: “It’s a scam. That’s not a process. That’s a scam.”
He said he would testify at a time when the judge refused to postpone the trial due to the enormous amount of publicity surrounding the case.
His legal team has consistently argued that there is no way the prominent Republican can get a fair trial because the city’s majority leans Democratic.
If convicted, Trump could face up to four years in prison for each of the 34 charges against him.
However, it is more likely that the 77-year-old will receive probation as he is a first-time offender in the state.