Journalism of Courage
Former US President Donald Trump appeared before a court in New York on Tuesday after being indicted by a Manhattan grand jury on charges related to hush-money payments to adult movie actress Stormy Daniels at the height of the 2016 presidential election.(AP Photo)
76-year-old Trump became the first former US President to be indicted, arrested and arraigned on criminal charges (Reuters)
He sat, stone-faced with shoulders rounded, at the defence table in a downtown Manhattan courtroom. (AP Photo)
Trump spoke six times in court, in one of which he told the judge that he was pleading “not guilty” to the 34 felony counts. (Reuters)
Trump’s lawyer Todd Blanche said during the hearing that Trump is “absolutely frustrated, upset and believes that there is a great injustice happening” in the courtroom. (Reuters)
He then flew home to Florida and spoke to a crowd of supporters at his home. (Reuters)
Trump repeated his claims that the investigation was politically motivated. He and attacked Bragg and the judge in the New York case, the judge’s family and other prosecutors investigating him in other cases. (Reuters)
Addressing his supporters, Trump claimed that America is a “nation in decline”, and “these radical left lunatics want to interfere with our elections by using law enforcement”. (AP Photo)
Trump’s next court appearance is due in December, but his lawyers have asked that he be excused from having to appear in person because of the extensive security required. (Reuters)
