– ON THE WAY TO THE COURT HOUSE. WITCH HUNT!!! MAGA – ONE OF THE SADEST DAYS IN OUR COUNTRY’S HISTORY. Trump wrote this on his media platform Truth Social while sitting in the motorcade in Miami. There he has become the first American president ever to answer for himself in a federal criminal case. Trump did not admit criminal guilt in the so-called document case, reports Reuters. – We absolutely do not plead guilty, said his lawyer Todd Blanche according to AFP. Trump waved to the crowd as the motorcade arrived at the courthouse in Miami. Photo: Jim Rassol / AP In August 2022, FBI agents entered Trump’s residence Mar-a-Lago in Florida and found approximately 13,000 classified documents. 100 of these were marked as secret doctors. Several employees at the golf club are said to have been asked to move documents shortly before the FBI got there. One of them, Waltine Nauta, is charged in connection with this. He must also have denied criminal liability in court. Trump himself is indicted on 37 counts, of which 31 relate to violations of the US Espionage Act. Not a “flight risk” He can leave the court without conditions, CNN writes. The prosecution said, according to the broadcaster, that they did not consider Trump a “flight risk”, i.e. someone who might run away. He will not be allowed to speak to potential witnesses in the case, it says. Trump arrived in town a day early to meet his lawyers at the Trump National Doral hotel. Photo: WIN MCNAMEE / AFP It was expected that the trial would take place in the capital, Washington DC, but since Trump lives in Florida, the authorities have decided that the case will be heard by a jury there. After the appearance on Tuesday, he is expected to fly back to his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, and speak at an event there at 02:15. Fear of unrest in Miami The police in Miami have taken strict precautions to maintain control while the court hearing takes place. A Trump supporter and a counter-protester argue outside the courthouse in Miami. Photo: MARCO BELLO / Reuters They were ready for anything between 5,000 and 50,000 demonstrators, the police chief in the city, Manuel Morales, said before the court hearing. – We know that the situation has the potential to deteriorate for the worse, but that is not how we do it here in Miami. When Trump arrived at the courthouse shortly before 8 p.m., news could see around 400 civilians who were present. A group of police officers walked together at the entrance to the courthouse on Tuesday. Photo: MARCO BELLO / Reuters Will not be photographed When Trump appeared in court to hear his indictment in April, which has to do with a completely different matter, he took a fingerprint but not a so-called “mug shot”. He didn’t even need to be photographed in Miami, says one of his defense lawyers, Alina Habba. – Trump is in a very unique position where he does not need to be mug shot, of course. Alina Habba and the other lawyers for Trump are the only ones in the motorcade, with the exception of Nauta, who are present inside the courthouse. Photo: Alex Brandon / AP – There is no risk of him running away. He is the leading candidate of the Republican Party for the moment. He goes through a process that is coordinated with the insurance service and everything will be handled seamlessly. Substantial penalty framework The charge in Florida is more serious than the one in New York, which concerns the payment of kickbacks to former porn star Stormy Daniels. – No one denies that he had these documents. Not even his supporting players, says lawyer and USA expert Sofie Høgestøl to news. In this case, she explains further, there are three things that are central: Sofie Høgestøl is an associate professor in jurisprudence at UiO. Photo: Robert Rønning / Robert Rønning / news That he had these secret legal-stamped documents at home, which calls for a penalty of 10 years in prison per document That he should have admitted to having these documents and had his lawyers lie about it , who asks for a sentence of five years in prison. That he should have worked against the judiciary, by using his personal assistant to move the buckets of documents to hide them, who has a sentence of 20 years in prison – The total sentence can be quite significant if this holds up in court. And it’s a big if, because this is just an indictment. – He is innocent until proven guilty. The public prosecutor in the case, Jack Smith, was also very clear about that. Can still run for president During an interview with the same newspaper, Trump is said to have told several people who did not have security clearance about a possible attack on Iran. Eirik Løkke is a US expert and consultant at Civita. Photo: Tobias Prosch Simonsen According to the indictment, he also bragged that he had the secret documents, but that he could not show them. The prosecution claims they have an audio recording of this conversation. That is strong evidence, believes Eirik Løkke in Civita. – The audio recording shows that he knew that he had not declassified these documents. It is extremely serious, says Løkke. Even though he has been charged in several cases, Trump can still stand as a presidential candidate, say both Løkke and Høgestøl. – It is possible that this case will not go before the judiciary before the presidential election. Then Trump himself can end the case. The classified documents were stored, among other things, in a shower, on stages and in storage rooms at the golf club in Mar-a-Lago in Florida. Photo: US Justice Department / Reuters – Trump’s appeal to his voters is probably one of the most important defenses he has. The Ministry of Justice in the USA has previously said that they will get the trial started as soon as possible, and preferably before the presidential election next year. It is still up to the judge in the case, whether to allow this.
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