Trump blasts judge and DA Alvin Bragg, says ‘Fake Biden trial’ could have started years ago on eve of Stormy Daniels’ quiet money payment trial set to begin MONDAY in New York City
Donald Trump has once again fumed over his hush money trial, which is due to start tomorrow, after he failed to get it delayed.
The former president accused Judge Juan Merchan and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg of using the “Fake Biden Trial” to derail his campaign.
Trump is accused of 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up his hush money payments to women he had affairs with, including prostitutes. The most notable is porn star Stormy Daniels, who Trump’s then-lawyer Michael Cohen paid $130,000 in 2016 to deny their alleged affair took place.
Trump, without evidence, wrote on his ‘Truth Social’ website on Sunday that his lawyers were not given enough time to review evidence before the trial.
“Judge Juan Merchan, perhaps the most embattled judge in New York State history, gave us only a short period of time to read and study the hundreds of thousands of pages of documents DA Alvin Bragg illegally concealed, disguised and withheld from us,” Trump wrote .
Donald Trump has once again lashed out at his hush money trial, which is due to start tomorrow, after he failed to get it delayed
The hush money lawsuit involves about $130,000 paid to adult film star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election. Prosecutors allege Trump falsified business records to cover up the payment to keep her quiet
“Of course, and as the referee knows, we need far more time than that.”
Trump then claimed that Bragg was working in ‘close coordination’ with the White House at the time of the trial in an attempt to damage his campaign.
“They could have started this bogus Biden trial years ago, not right in the middle of my campaign for president, and time wouldn’t be an issue,” he wrote.
‘This is a blatant and unprecedented attack on Crooked Joe Biden’s political opponent (who is leading in every poll!), carried out in close coordination with the White House, which cannot be allowed to go forward!’
Trump is not leading in all polls, as numerous national and swing-state polls have President Joe Biden ahead, although Trump is up in several of them.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is leading the case against Trump
Former President Donald Trump dropped the criminal case against him in New York just days before the trial is set to begin. The former president told the audience that it is a ‘badge of honour’ to be prosecuted
The former president also vented against the hush money case against him at a meeting Pennsylvania on Saturday, just days before he becomes the first former president in US history to stand trial on criminal charges.
“In two days, the whole world will witness the beginning of the very first Biden trial,” he told an eager crowd of supporters.
‘I’m proud to do it for you. Have fun watching, have fun watching.’
The 77-year-old former president was in Schnecksville, Pennsylvania, outside Allentown, where he rambled for about an hour on a wide range of topics from bordering on insisting ‘I’m popular!’
It was his last rally before the hush money trial gets under way in New York. Jury selection begins on Monday.
Trump faces 34 counts of falsifying business records. Each charge carries a maximum penalty of four years in prison.
“On Monday in New York City, I will be forced to sit completely gagged, I will not be allowed to speak,” Trump claimed a day after saying he would testify.
The ex-president went after the presiding judge as well as Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who brought the case.
“This is by far the weakest criminal case I have ever seen in my 60 years,” said Trump, 77. “There is absolutely nothing here. There is no offense. There is no crime, there is no federal crime.’
Trump criticized the lawsuit, which came in the middle of his run for president.
It is the first of four criminal cases against Trump that could begin this year as he makes his third bid for the White House.
Supporters queuing for hours to attend the ex-president’s rally on Saturday echoed some of Trump’s own statements on the matter.
Several people in line told DailyMail.com that the criminal case was a ‘witch hunt’ orchestrated by ‘corrupt’ Democrats and dismissed concerns that Trump was being convicted while running for president.
“I’m completely disgusted with our criminal justice system,” said Courtney Bracken, 46, who was at the rally with her son and also said she was at the Capitol on Jan. 6.
The line of supporters waited outside Trump’s rally in Schnecksville on April 13. Hundreds of supporters waited in line for hours ahead of the former president’s remarks at the Schnecksville Brand Hall
Supporters of Trump ahead of his campaign rally in Schnecksville, PA on April 13
‘I honestly think the Democrats are making a mockery of our criminal justice system. I think ultimately, after all the appeals, after everything, President Trump will be found not guilty,” she said.
“I think it’s just a roadblock. These are frivolous cases, said Michael Mann, 61, at the rally on Saturday. “I don’t feel that he is being judged. He’s going to get out of it’.
Trump himself said on Friday that he would testify in the hush money case.
‘It’s a scam. It’s a scam. It’s not a lawsuit. It is not a trial, Trump also said on Friday.
A new one New York Times/Siena A poll on Saturday found that a majority of registered voters think the allegations that Trump falsified records related to the hush money payments are very serious or somewhat serious.
Only 22 percent said they were not serious at all.
The accusations divided along partisan lines. Forty-three percent of Republicans said the hush money allegations were not serious at all.
Forty-six percent of registered voters said they believe Trump should be found guilty in the case. 36 percent said he shouldn’t. 71 percent of Republicans said he shouldn’t.
Trump told supporters at his rally to ‘enjoy watching’ as he blasts the hush money case against him, which begins in New York with jury selection on Monday
While only the hush money case has a set trial start date so far, the criminal charges against Trump could take him off the campaign trail for a significant amount of time leading up to the election.
Trump’s campaign said it will take full advantage of Wednesday and weekends off, and the former president will also continue to deliver his message with in-person and virtual events.
They argue that court appearances and indictments have proven to backfire on Democrats and Biden and expect this case to be no different.
“Joe Biden and the Democrats’ entire strategy to defeat President Trump is to keep him out of campaigns by confining him to a courtroom,” National Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.
“President Trump will continue to fight for truth in the courtroom and share his winning message on the campaign trail,” she said.
Trump is expected to hold in-person and virtual campaign events around the trial period. His campaign claims the courtroom appearances and indictments are backfiring Democrats
Pennsylvania is one of the biggest battlegrounds in 2024. Biden won the state by more than 80,000 votes in 2020 after Trump won the state by less than 45,000 votes in 2016.
Ahead of Trump’s visit, supporters lined the roads around Schnecksville, waving Trump flags and holding signs.
DailyMail.com observed one person holding a Biden sign on the side of the road near the rally, and another person waiting to greet the motorcade a little further away with a ‘Trump in prison 2024’ -sign.
Ahead of the former president’s visit, the state’s Democratic governor, Josh Shapiro, issued a statement on behalf of the Biden campaign about Trump’s visit to the state, blasting him on the issue of abortion and overturning Roe v Wade.
“Pennsylvanians want a president who will fight for us and protect our freedom — not the chaos and extremism Donald Trump wants to bring to our society,” he said.