Trump is about to appear in court after being indicted
The Miami court appearance of Donald Trump in the wake of a federal indictment of mishandling classified documents: a new era in his political career
Former President Donald Trump is expected to appear in a Miami courthouse on Tuesday following last week’s unsealing of a federal indictment accusing him of mishandling classified documents.
The indictment alleges that Trump was personally involved in packing the documents as he left the White House in 2021, that he bragged about having secret materials and caused his own lawyer to mislead the FBI about what kind of papers he had stored at Mar-a-Lago.
The charges against him will get worse as he mounts a presidential reelection bid, so the court appearance on Tuesday is likely to mark a new era in his political career.
The former president and his lawyers say that Trump will appear before a judge at 3 pm. But before he can appear in court, he’ll need to surrender for pretrial services, including booking and processing.
Weaver said the underground garage is connected to the federal courthouse. The tunnel could be a good place for Trump to be electronically finger-printed.
How about handcuffs and a mugshot? Those steps probably won’t be necessary in this controlled environment with such a high-profile figure, Weaver says. It would be in line with what happened in the weeks leading up to his Manhattan court appearance.
Donald Trump meets Judge Cannon in a Mar-a-Lago hearing on his March 11 speech in Bedminster, N.J.
As of Monday morning, Trump’s private plane was still parked near his golf resort in Bedminster, N.J. Around 11 a.m. cable news networks showed live shots of his motorcade leaving the resort in the direction of the airport.
Trump will make a speech in Bedminster on Tuesday night. After being arrested in New York in April and taken to his home in Mar-a-Lago for a campaign speech in which he described himself as an innocent man and political martyr, he again took a similar tactic.
It’s unclear which judge will oversee Tuesday’s hearing, but we know his case is with Judge Cannon, and it could be the first time that the two face-to-face.
Cannon was appointed to the bench by Trump. She surprised legal experts by ruling in Trump’s favor last summer, appointing a special master to review documents seized by the FBI from Mar-a-Lago. Federal prosecutors were temporarily stopped from continuing with their investigation of the documents.
The attorney who isn’t part of the case told Fox News that Trump won’t be seeking a plea bargain when he isn’t guilty. “He would never admit guilt.”
Trump’s personal aide, Walt Nauta, has also been summoned to appear in court at the same time. The indictment says that he helped Trump move and hid boxes of classified documents.
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At this point, we need strength. Everyone is afraid to do anything. They’re afraid to talk. Donald Trump told his former advisor, Roger Stone, that people had to go out and protest peacefully.
Laura Loomer, a right-wing activist, tweeted about plans for a “peaceful rally” outside the courthouse, urging attendees to bring pro-Trump attire and “love” for the former president.
“If you want to get to President Trump, you will have to go through me,” she said in a press conference on Saturday.
The Department of Justice was pledged to investigate after the former president’s Republican allies in Congress said they’d like to look into the matter.
“Buckle up. 1/50K know your bridges. Rock steady calm,” wrote Louisiana Rep. Clay Higgins in apparent reference to military terms. Two days later he backpedaled, telling all “patriots” not to “trip the wire” the mainstream media laid.
Law enforcement officials in Miami are planning to update the press on Monday afternoon regarding plans for security around the downtown courthouse where Trump will appear.
Special counsel Jack Smith, who was appointed by the Justice Department to oversee an independent investigation of Trump, defended the work of his team and the FBI in remarks last week.
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Federal law stipulates that a “speedy trial” is one that starts no later than 70 days after an arraignment. But that doesn’t account for defense motions, and in this case, there could be plenty, according to Weaver.
“There’s going to be motions to dismiss it on the basis of selective prosecution,” he told NPR on Saturday. You didn’t prosecute President Joe Biden for having classified documents, but you did prosecute me for possession of classified documents.
Weaver is also expecting delays over the choice of venue (a possible move to West Palm Beach, which could see a jury pool more favorable to Trump) and delays related to the Classified Protection Act (the defense attorney might need a security clearance just to review the records included as evidence).
That means a trial could land right in the thick of Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign — as the former president told Politico this weekend, he’d stump from prison if necessary.
Donald Trump says that he’s being targeted by prosecutors because he’s in the race for president a second time. His Republican allies in Congress are echoing these claims of bias in the Justice Department.
It is not clear whether Trump will be handcuffed, either. He was not in court when he was called to testify in the New York state case.
The judge could impose restrictions on them as the case progresses, asking them to give up their passports, limit travel and check in with court supervision.
The case of the obstruction of justice to the investigation of a presidential indictment from a White House investigation of Biden’s office and residence
The researchers say they don’t see a lot of plans around the courthouse appearance, unlike the leadup to the Capitol riot.
There could be a lot of delays, because Trump could make more than one motion contesting aspects of the case. The legal team could even try to postpone the trial until after the presidential election.
Trump made the federal indictment part of his campaign for the White House. He’s even planning to talk Tuesday night at a fundraiser at his golf club in New Jersey.
A special counsel is currently looking into how Biden himself came to have classified documents in his private office and residence. But in that case, there’s no hint Biden is resisting turning over any of the papers, like Trump allegedly did for about a year.
