Lectures: 197
The former President must answer for more than 30 crimes, considering the most serious that of inciting the “assault on the Capitol” on January 6, 2021; the order given to the governor of Georgia would have to be added, so that he altered the results to fraudulently declare Trump’s victory over Joe Biden. In another order, he is accused of crimes regarding false tax returns, presented by the President himself and his family environment. He is also charged with the theft and manipulation of official documents, taken from the White House to his private residence in Florida.
In the United States, unlike the countries of Latin America, the secrecy of the summary is strictly respected, therefore, the documents on the investigation of the trial of the crimes for which Trump is accused, are sealed, (they will only be opened in on Tuesday, April 4, when Trump, accompanied by the Secret Services, appears before the Prosecutor, in Manhattan).
In the discussion between Trump’s lawyers and the New York Prosecutor’s Office, it was agreed not to handcuff him during the presentation before the District Attorney. In turn, this interrogation will take place in an office attached to the premises of the Prosecutor’s Office.
Donald Trump would be the first former President of the United States to appear before the Grand Jury. Richard Nixon, who resigned as President of the Nation to avoid impeachment against him as a result of the Watergate scandal, was saved from criminal prosecution thanks to the amnesty for all his crimes, promulgated by his successor, the President Gerald Ford.
In appearance, the present accusation against Trump of having paid one hundred and thirty thousand dollars to buy the silence of his extramarital affairs with the porn actress Stormy Daniels, an amount of money that he hid as “Campaign expenses” to reimburse his former lawyer, in charge of to pay that sum to the porn actress, Michael Cohen, (today in jail after pleading guilty to a series of crimes, committed during the Trump Campaign, in 2016). This crime would have the lowest penalties among the thirty violations of the law, for which former President Trump is accused, but only next Tuesday will the accusation of the Grand Jury be known, a file that the main Prosecutor of the case must present before the New York courts.
Donald Trump was “shocked” by the news, as he continues to believe that he can act above the law. On the indicated date, Trump fans will protest at the call of his idol in order to exert pressure before the courts.
The New York scenario could not be more unfavorable to Trump, since the majority of voters have always voted for Democratic candidates in elections.
The Constitution of the United States does not prohibit the presentation as a candidate for the presidency of the Republic to citizens who are being investigated, including a conviction, however, the 30 crimes will make Trump’s performance enormously difficult, both in the primary and in the presidential campaign, to be victorious in the primary.
The scenario prior to the primaries for the presidential elections, to be held in November 2024, does not seem auspicious for the almost certain candidate Trump: in the first place, the result of the elections for the House of Representatives and part of the Senate was not a sweeping victory for the Republican Party, if we consider that the halftime elections have always consecrated the victory of the opposition Party; second, Trump no longer owns the Republican Party, as younger and more promising rivals have emerged, including Florida Governor Ron Dion DeSantis; thirdly, the accusations against Trump dangerously place him in a position, we could classify it as similar to that of former President Nixon, since both hold the record of having to appear before the American courts to answer for their crimes, so the second President saved by his former vice president, Gerald Ford.
US politics had never been so tense, some political analysts even announce a climate of hostility, very close to civil war. The Democratic Party, like the Republican, suffers from a leadership drought: President Biden is not only very old, but has led the country’s economy into an inflation crisis, now adding that of the banking system. The Vice President, Kamala Harris, has shown marked incapacity in political leadership and, in turn, the most progressive sectors of the Democratic Party have not been able to raise a leadership that is capable of competing successfully against the Republican Party, which has also had serious difficulties. to end trumpism pure and simple.
If justice acts against the crimes of former President Donald Trump, the next presidential campaign will be marked by the cleavage between Trumpism and liberal democracy.
By Rafael Luis Gumucio Rivas (El Viejo)
01/04/2023
