Trump prepares to walk into Manhattan DA’s office as the first president to face criminal charges

When former President Donald Trump enters the 17-story Manhattan Art Deco District Attorney’s office Tuesday afternoon, it will mark the beginning of what has been called “the most dramatic 75 minutes in modern American history.”

As the first US president to face criminal charges, Trump will be arrested and read his rights as he faces 34 counts related to an alleged $130,000 “hush money” payment made to porn star Stormy Daniels during the race. 2016 presidential election.

Trump, who is running to be the Republican nominee in the upcoming presidential election, denies all the charges and called last Thursday’s grand jury indictment a “witch hunt” led by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

While Trump has denied any relationship with Daniels, who says he was paid to keep quiet about an alleged affair with him, he faces up to four years in prison if convicted.

A source close to the former president said: “While the possibility of him going to jail on these charges is slim, it is possible. There’s nothing in the constitution that says a presidential candidate can’t campaign behind bars, so there’s a chance Donald Trump could deliver campaign speeches via Zoom call from a cell phone somewhere.”

The “circus” surrounding the case will begin around 1 p.m. Tuesday, when Trump arrives at the sprawling building in Lower Manhattan that houses the offices of the district attorney and the Manhattan Supreme Court.

One former prosecutor said: ‘This is going to be the biggest circus since Barnum and Bailey. You will see unpublished scenes. There will be crowds outside, chanting for and against Trump, and cops everywhere. They have told the NYPD that all licenses have been canceled that day.

The MoS has learned that Trump, surrounded by a wall of Secret Service agents, armed police officers and his legal team, will be taken to a ‘processing room’ on the seventh floor where he will be read his rights and arrested.

The source said: “A defendant would normally be handcuffed at this stage, but the prosecutor’s office and Trump’s legal team have been in discussions and it is unlikely they will see him handcuffed.” However, Trump will have his mugshot and fingerprints taken before a police officer uses a cotton swab to collect a DNA sample from the inside of his cheeks.

You will be asked to provide details such as height, weight, and hair color.

Ron Kuby, a veteran New York defense attorney, quipped, “That’s where you lie about your weight: I’m 6-foot-3 and 205 pounds.” sure you are Hair color? ‘Orange’.’

Once Trump has been ‘indicted’, he will proceed to the 15th floor of the building to Court 59, where, at 14:15 (19:15 UK time), Judge Juan Merchan will drop the typewritten Indictment, number 71543. , from a burn. -Red folder and formal reading of the charges.

This will be the first time the world will know exactly what the charges are.

Trump is expected to say just two words: “Not guilty,” before a date for a preliminary hearing is set and the case is adjourned.

The source said: ‘The time in the courtroom will be minimal. It will only take a few minutes.

A journalist from one of the major US networks said: ‘All the networks are planning to join their regular lineup to cover this. It will be the most dramatic 75 minutes in recent American history.

“No one has ever seen anything like it before and it’s unlikely we’ll ever see anything like it again in our lifetime.”

Stormy Daniels attends the Los Angeles Premiere of Neon’s ‘Pleasure’ at Linwood Dunn Theater on May 11, 2022 in Los Angeles, California

Trump’s pit bull criminal defense attorney, Joe Tacopina, 56, plans to make a statement on the courtroom steps after the hearing is over. He called the case “political persecution.” Speaking after the indictment was announced, he said: “He [Trump] is ready to fight. I have never been more angry about a charge because the rule of law died in the United States of America today. He is dead. This will backfire because we are going to win this case. We will humiliate them.

It is not known if Trump will be allowed to deliver a speech on the steps of the courtroom as the judge may impose a ‘gag’ order to prevent the former president from making inflammatory remarks.

A source said: “Trump has been known to irritate his supporters. He called them to the streets when these charges were first discussed. With his trajectory compared to January 6 [when Trump supporters overran the US Capitol building on January 6, 2021, in a bid to overturn the result of the 2020 election] the judge may place you under a gag order.

“It will be interesting to see if someone like Trump can keep quiet. If he breaks a gag order, the judge could hold him in contempt and put him in jail.

“So there are a number of ways you could see Donald Trump end up behind bars.”

Trump has been spending the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida. He is expected to fly to New York on his private plane tomorrow and spend the night before his appearance at his luxurious apartment inside Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue before returning to Mar-a-Lago. Long-time supporter and friend Toni Holt Kramer said the mood at Mar-a-Lago is “off.”

The image shows a fake AI-generated mugshot as Trump’s allies claim he believes his photo will become the most famous of all time.

Trump’s legal troubles may just be getting started. He faces possible criminal charges for alleged election rigging in Georgia, and an indictment is expected to be returned by a grand jury in Atlanta at any time. He also faces a federal investigation into whether he illegally removed classified White House documents.

If Trump is convicted and sentenced to prison, he could end up on New York’s notorious Rikers Island. He would be issued a standard orange prison uniform.

His Secret Service protection officers would be posted outside his cell.

There is nothing stopping Trump from running for president again, even if he is behind bars. He could carry out presidential business, such as issuing orders and signing and vetoing bills. He could deliver the State of the Union address to Congress via Zoom.

The ‘nuclear football’, a briefcase containing the nuclear launch codes and which has to be with the president at all times, would be carried by a military aide outside his cell.

Experts have suggested that Trump could be sent to military prison, for his protection, that of his Secret Service agents and military aides.