NEW YORK — On Friday, the United States Secret Service, the New York City Police Department and the New York State Unified Judicial System joined forces to announce how they are preparing security ahead of the proceedings legal proceedings in New York City involving former President Donald Trump.
“The US Secret Service is prepared to effectively carry out our protection mission here in New York,” said Special Agent in Charge Patrick J. Freaney, US Secret Service New York Field Office. “While operational security precludes us from going into details, the United States Secret Service will not seek any special accommodations outside of what would be necessary to ensure the former president’s continued safety. We have the utmost confidence in our law enforcement partners, including the New York Police Department and the New York State Unified Judicial System, and we appreciate their continued dedication and professionalism.”
The commissioner of the New York City Police Department, Edward Caban, also weighed in on security measures and assured that it is something in which the police are willing to participate.
“Planning high-profile security events is very familiar territory for the New York City Police Department,” said Police Commissioner Edward Caban. “Our long-standing relationships with each of our local, state and federal law enforcement partners, including the US Secret Service and the New York State Unified Court System, will help protect the courthouse and everyone inside, facilitate the peaceful assembly outside the building and will maintain the safe flow of vehicular and pedestrian traffic in the surrounding areas for the duration of the process.”
The New York State Unified Judicial System will also be pulling out all the stops to ensure impeccable security measures at the courthouse on Monday.
“The safety of everyone who enters our New York State courts is paramount,” said department head Michael Magliano. “New York State’s court clerks are highly trained and experienced in handling high-profile trials. In coordination with the US Secret Service and the NYPD, we are ready and able to protect the safety of everyone in court during this trial, maintaining a safe and secure court environment by facilitating the needs of the court, trial participants, the media and the general public.”
WHAT IS THIS CASE ABOUT?
The former president is accused of falsifying internal records of the Trump Organization as part of a plan to bury damaging stories that he feared could damage his 2016 campaign, particularly because Trump’s reputation was being tarnished at the time by comments he had made. about women.
The allegations center on bribes to two women, porn actress Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal, who said they had extramarital sexual encounters with Trump years earlier, as well as a Trump Tower doorman who claimed to have a story about a child Trump had allegedly been out of wedlock. Trump says none of these alleged sexual encounters occurred.
Former Trump lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 and arranged for the publisher of the supermarket tabloid National Enquirer to pay McDougal $150,000 in a journalistically dubious practice known as “catch and kill,” in which a publication pays for exclusive rights to someone’s story with no intention of publishing it, either as a favor to a celebrity or to gain influence over the person.
Prosecutors say Trump’s company reimbursed Cohen and paid him bonuses and additional payments, all of which were falsely recorded in Trump Organization records as legal expenses. Cohen separately pleaded guilty to violating federal campaign finance law in connection with the payments.
WHAT ARE THE CHARGES?
Trump is charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. The charge carries up to four years in prison, although it will ultimately be up to the judge whether he will spend time behind bars if he is convicted.
The charges are tied to a series of checks written to Cohen to reimburse him for his role in paying Daniels. These payments, made over 12 months, were recorded as legal expenses in various internal company records.
To win the felony charge, prosecutors must prove that Trump not only falsified or caused business records to be falsely entered (which would be a misdemeanor), but that he did so with the intent to commit or conceal a second crime.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg did not specify the other crime in Trump’s indictment, but has since said evidence shows his actions were intended to conceal state and federal tax and campaign finance crimes. Some experts say this is an unusual legal strategy that could backfire.
2024-04-13 03:49:23
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