Trump’s likely rival in the Republican primary, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, also criticized the attempt to “instrumentalize the legal system” to promote, according to him, the political agenda of the Democrats.
Meanwhile, the police were deployed in Manhattan in anticipation of possible riots, but both in the Trump Tower on 5th Avenue, and in front of the prosecutor’s office, there were more journalists than supporters of the Republican.
New York justice is trying to clarify whether Trump is guilty of false statement, an infraction, or of violating the electoral financing law, a criminal offense.
Trump’s then-lawyer and now-enemy Michael Cohen, testifying before the Manhattan grand jury, said he was in charge of making the payment to Stormy Daniels on behalf of her then-boss and later reimbursed her.
According to legal experts, it will not be easy to prove these accusations in court, so it is uncertain whether the former president could be sentenced to jail.
An eventual conviction by the New York state court would not prevent him from legally running for president of the United States, according to law professor John Coffee, although, he says, “it would have a “stigmatizing” effect.
The tycoon is the subject of several criminal investigations at both the state and federal levels for alleged wrongdoing that could threaten his new run for the White House, including attempts to reverse his loss in the 2020 election in the state of Georgia.