He former president of the United States Donald Trump He faces two crucial court dates this Monday that could tarnish his image as a successful billionaire with whom he would have had a relationship that he always denied.
Donald Trump arrives at the courtroom
Flanked by his lawyers, The 77-year-old Republican entered the courtroom of investigating judge Juan Merchanslowly but with an exasperated tone.
“This is a witch hunt and a hoax”the Republican presidential candidate told reporters upon arriving at the courthouse.
Initially scheduled to begin this Monday, Judge Merchan, of Colombian origin, decided on March 15, after a motion from the defense, to delay the trial for one month. This It will be the first time that a former president of the United States sits on the bench in a criminal case for the payment of $130,000 to buy former porn star Stormy Daniels’ silence ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
The case of Donald Trump
Trump is accused of having attributed this payment to legal expenses. Of If convicted, he could face four years in prison.
This Monday also ends the deadline for the tycoon deposits a bail of 464 million -355 million fine and more than 100 million accumulated interest-, to which Judge Arthur Engoron sentenced himalong with his sons Eric and Don Jr. on February 16, for inflating the value of his properties to obtain more favorable interest rates on loans and insurance in his Trump Organization real estate empire.
“It should be ZERO, I DID NOTHING WRONG!” Trump wrote this Monday on his Truth Social platform, asserting that the fine is “fraudulent.”
What happens if Donald Trump doesn’t pay?
If you do not deposit the amount, the attorney general of New York, Letitia James, that he took to the Trumps to the courts in october 2022 for financial fraudles could seize your assets and bank accounts.
“His image would change radically in the eyes of many people since he has always presented himself as a successful millionaire”says to the AFP Andrew Weissmannformer federal prosecutor and author of a book about the former president’s accusations.
The former Republican tenant of the White House (2017-2021), to which he dreams of returning on January 20, 2025, calls the civil sentence “invented” and the “bail requirement, unconstitutional” imposed by a “racist and corrupt” prosecutor and a judge “controlled by the Democratic clique.”
What Donald Trump’s lawyers say
The Trump lawyers They assured last week that His client could not raise the bail amountwhich is a guarantee that the tycoon will pay the penalty imposed if his appeals fail.
This amount is added to the nearly 92 million dollars that he had to deposit at the beginning of the month due to the sentence to pay 83.3 million dollars to the writer E. Jean Carroll for defamation.
He The former president assured on Friday that he had “almost 500 million dollars in casha significant portion of which is intended to be used in (his) campaign” against Democratic President Joe Biden. That same day his media company, Trump Media & Technology Groupreceived approval to go public, a movement that could bring him billions of dollars and serve as collateral.
The options that Donald Trump has to raise the money
Your options are selling real estate like the iconic Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue, apply for a bank loan or even declare personal bankruptcyaccording to Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond (Eastern Virginia).
“This last option would not suspend the first instance sentence against Trump, since the prosecutor would probably try to declare him responsible for his debts,” he maintains.
Source: Ambito
