Donald Trump has lashed out at ‘Joe Biden’s corrupt henchman’ as the former president prepares for the start of his hush money trial against Stormy Daniels in New York.
In a post on his Truth Social page, the 77-year-old said: “Tomorrow morning I will be in Criminal Court, before a totally conflicted judge, a corrupt prosecutor, a legal system in CHAOS.
‘A state overrun by violent crime and corruption, and corrupt Joe Biden’s henchmen ‘rigging the system’ against his political opponent, ME!
‘I will fight for myself but, much more importantly, I will fight for our country.
‘Election interference like this has never happened before in the US and, hopefully, will never happen again. Now we are a nation in serious decline, a failed nation, but soon we will become a great nation again.
Trump faces 34 felony charges stemming from allegations that he falsified business 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 the $130,000 paid to Daniels before the presidential election to keep her quiet about her alleged affair.
In his post, Trump said New York state was governed by ‘Biden minions’ who are ‘rigging 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 proceedings against Trump that will go to trial this year as he runs for a second term in the White House.
The case centers on the $130,000 paid to Daniels before the presidential election to keep her quiet about her alleged affair.
In the indictment first filed against Trump in April 2023, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg accused the former president of falsifying New York business records to conceal damaging information and illegal activities from voters.
Bragg claims that Trump and others engaged in a “catch and kill” scheme to bury negative information about him and went to great lengths to conceal their conduct, including making dozens of false entries in business records to conceal criminal activity.
Trump pleaded not guilty last spring to all 34 charges.
While prosecutors have not released an official list of potential witnesses to take the stand, some of the people in Trump’s former orbit expected to testify at the trial include his attorney Michael Cohen.
Cohen, Trump’s former personal lawyer turned harsh critic, is expected to take the stand as his activities are at the center of the hush money case.
Trump claimed he was paying Cohen for legal services provided in 2017 with payments over nine months, but the Manhattan district attorney’s office alleges the former president was reimbursing Cohen for the $130,000 payments he ordered Cohen to make to him. to Daniels before the 2016 election.
Prosecutors argue that Cohen also coordinated with the editor of the National Enquirer to give former Playboy model Karen McDougal $150,000 to thwart her accounts of sexual encounters with Trump in a practice known as “catch and kill.”
New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg speaks after Trump appeared in Manhattan Criminal Court following his indictment following an investigation into money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels for her silence.
Daniels, also known as Stephanie Clifford, is also expected to testify at trial as the woman at the center of the hush money case.
Trump’s eponymous company then paid Cohen $420,000 in several installments, prosecutors said.
Last month, Trump’s legal team attempted to block Cohen from testifying. Trump’s lawyer, according to the court filing, argued that Cohen had a history of lying and would lie again at trial.
In 2018, Cohen pleaded guilty to violating campaign finance laws regarding payments to Daniels and to 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 confinement.
Ahead of the hush money trial, Cohen told the Playbook Deep Dive podcast that he thinks people will be surprised by the corroborating evidence presented in the case.
Daniels, also known as Stephanie Clifford, is also expected to testify at trial as the woman at the center of the hush money case.
Daniels, 45, alleges that in 2006 she had a sexual encounter with Trump, who at the time was already married to Melania Trump.
Michael Cohen arrives at the New York Supreme Court on October 25, 2023 in New York
Trump (left) waits for 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 in October 2016, just before the election, Trump’s fixer, Michael Cohen, wired Daniels’ lawyer $130,000 to keep her quiet about their encounters amid concerns it could hurt her chances of winning. the presidential elections.
Trump denies having an affair with Daniels. At a news conference at Mar-a-Lago on Friday, he said: ”It’s a scam. That’s not a judgement. It is a scam’.”
He said he would testify just as the judge refused to delay the trial because of 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 majority of the city leans Democratic.
If convicted, Trump could face up to four years in prison for each of the 34 charges against him.
However, the 77-year-old is more likely to face probation because this is his first crime in the state.