Your Indictment news for March 31, 2023
Hi there,
Greetings from Chicago, where we have been under tornado, thunderstorm, and flash flood watches since about five in the afternoon and where currently there are 80 mile-per-hour winds blowing outside. It's been a bit of an evening around here, so apologies for this late update.
Today was one of those days in the indictment where everyone's getting their ducks lined up, and when one of those ducks is a former president of the United States and also a very loud quacker, it's a bit of an ordeal.
Anyway, these updates are written by me, Dan Sinker (hello!). It's a one-person operation and is offered to you entirely free because I make bad decisions. But! Tips are very welcome via PayPal, Venmo, or CashApp. Your support means a lot.
OK, let's get to it before the power goes out.
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Previously: On March 30, 2023 former president Donald Trump became the first US president to be indicted for a crime when a grand jury, impaneled by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, voted to indict him after two months of closed-door hearings. While the indictment remains sealed, it is believed to pertain to hush-money payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels in 2016 and the potential falsifying of business records connected to the payment. Which brings us to today...
Today, Friday, March 31, 2023
Tuesday, April 4, is shaping up to be a very big day. First up, it's being reported that Tuesday will be the day that Donald Trump will be arrested. Appearing on the TODAY show this morning, Trump's lawyer Joe Tacopino said emphatically that Trump would turn himself in to authorities and that he was "not going to hole up in Mar-a-Lago." The current belief is that Trump will fly into New York on Monday and stay the night at Trump Tower before heading to the Manhattan DA's office in the morning to turn himself in, at which point he will be booked, fingerprinted, and photographed. (Yes, if there's a mugshot, of course it'll be included in the update, I mean come on.) (Source: The TODAY Show)
Following his booking, Trump will head to the Criminal Courts Building in Lower Manhattan where he be arraigned. The hearing is currently scheduled for 2:15pm. The Secret Service is expected to have a significant presence in and around the courtroom and an advance team toured the court complex today. The arraignment is where we will finally hear the charges against Trump. After hearing the charges, Trump will be asked how he pleas and Tacopino told TODAY that there is "zero, ZE-RO" chance that Trump will plead guilty. "It's not gonna happen." (Source: New York Daily News)
The judge currently scheduled to preside will be a familiar one to Trump. Manhattan's Acting Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan was the judge for the recent conviction of the Trump Organization for tax fraud and the conviction of the organization's long-time CFO Allen Weisselberg for—this should sound familiar—falsifying business records. Weisselberg is currently wrapping up his five-month prison sentence and is due to be released in mid-April. (Source: NBC 4 New York)
If you're wondering how Trump took the news that a judge who has already handled the convictions of his company and crony is now going to be handling his case, the answer is, of course, "not well." Taking to Truth Social this morning, Trump ranted that Merchan "HATES ME" and that the judge "railroaded" Weisselberg. "He strong armed Allen, which a judge is not allowed to do, & treated my companies, which didn't 'plead,' VICIOUSLY." So this should go... well. (Source: Truth Social)
Finally, if you'd like to spend some time between now and the Big Arrest Day reading a good narrative of the entire Stormy Daniels/Michael Cohen/Donald Trump hush money affair, the Washington Post has an excellent one. If, on the other hand, you would like to spend that time doing absolutely anything else, I respect—and am jealous of—your life decisions. (Source: Washington Post)
What's coming next: All attention turns to Tuesday, April 4, when Donald Trump will be arrested, booked, and arraigned. Of course, that date might change, it's all still being negotiated.
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Well there we are, the first week of the indictment comes to an end. Unless something entirely bonkers happens this weekend (like, I dunno, someone pulls a runner from Mar-a-Lago), you won't hear from me again until next week. I am traveling on Monday, so mmmmaybe there will be an update, but certainly there will be one on Tuesday because points to everything I just wrote in today's entry.
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I'm glad you're here,
Dan