The former president of the United States donald trump He has been charged with criminal charges, the first step in a long legal road with an uncertain outcome.

Donald Trump is preparing to be arrested Tuesday and experience what no other former president of the United States has experienced: having his fingerprints taken and his mugshot taken. But he, true to himself, will “fight” the charges heading into the 2024 presidential election.

A grand jury in New York has indicted Trump on criminal charges for a $130,000 cash payment to a porn actress to buy her silence during the 2016 presidential campaign.

The former president denies breaking the law and accuses the Manhattan district attorney who filed the charges, Democrat Alvin Bragg, of conducting a “political witch hunt.”

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The goal, he says, is to prevent the Republican Party from nominating him as a candidate for the White House at a time when he is the clear favorite, though he seems to have lost the mobilization and luster of yesteryear.

Why is he accused?

In 2018, the New York court opened an investigation into a Paying $130,000 to porn actress Stormy Daniels just before the 2016 presidential election to cover up an alleged Donald Trump extramarital affair.

The amount was not included in the Republican nominee’s campaign accounts, which would be in violation of state election laws, but was recorded as “legal expenses” in those of his New York-based firm.

In January, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat, appointed a grand jury, a panel of randomly selected citizens with investigative powers, to determine whether there was enough evidence to indict Donald Trump.

After three months of investigation and the appearance of witnesses, the grand jury decided to indict him, but has not made the indictment public.

“They only brought this false, corrupt and shameful charge against me because I support the American people and they know I can’t get a fair trial in New York!” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.

Donald J Trump

What will happen on Tuesday?

Donald Trump, who lives in Florida, is due to appear in court in New York to be formally notified of the charges against him.

Like any other inmate, the millionaire will have to give his name, age and profession and be fingerprinted and photographed.

According to his lawyer Joe Tacopina, he will not be handcuffed, but may have to walk the halls in front of the media.

Democratic prosecutors will try to please themselves by “parading him,” Tacopina told NBC.

He will then appear before a New York state judge, before whom he will plead “not guilty,” the lawyer said.

The case will be heard by Judge Juan Merchan, who oversaw the Trump Organization’s tax fraud trial last year, according to the US press. This magistrate “HATE ME,” Donald Trump wrote Friday.

The means of defense

Tacopina plans to “immediately” file several appeals to try to have his client’s accusation invalidated.

It could claim that the investigation was incriminating or a formal error to delay the procedure.

If you fail, the normal course of justice offers three options:

How could it develop?

According to the US Department of Justice, a sitting president would not have to answer in court, even for events leading up to his inauguration.

If Donald Trump were to be re-elected in the 2024 presidential election he is seeking, the procedure would remain bracketed throughout the four years of his tenure.

If the Justice Department sets a date for November 2024, or if he loses the election again like he did in 2020, there would be a trial in New York, likely before a popular jury.

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Does it keep you from another mandate?

No. In the United States, a criminally charged or convicted person can run for any office and be elected.

The Constitution provides for an exception: participation in an “insurrection” or an “insurrection” against the United States.

This scenario is not completely ruled out as Donald Trump is the subject of a federal judicial investigation for his role in the attack on the Capitol by his supporters on January 6, 2021.

A parliamentary inquiry recommended that he be charged with “calling an insurrection”, but no charges have been brought against him to date.