'US Going To Hell': Trump Charges At Biden As He Pleads Not Guilty To 34 Charges In Hush Money Case — Top Points

Former US President Donald Trump late Tuesday night charged President Joe Biden and his administration post his brief arrest in the hush money case in a New York court.

Former US President Donald Trump

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Trump Hush Money Case: Former US President Donald Trump late Tuesday night charged President Joe Biden and his administration post his brief arrest in the hush money case in a New York court. In his first response after his indictment in the case involving adult film star Stormy Daniels and pleading not guilty to the 34 charges, Trump said: “US is going to hell”. 

He was on Tuesday released after arraignment in the hush money case in a New York court in Lower Manhattan

Here's all that happened so far and what Trump said in his fiery speech.

DONALD TRUMP'S FLORIDA SPEECH AFTER NEW YORK COURT APPEARANCE 

• Addressing his supporters from his Mar-a-Lago house in Florida, Trump came heavily against his indictment and President Joe Biden and his administration. Trump said: "They can’t beat us at the ballot box, so they try to beat us through the law,"  
• He said: "We are a nation in decline, and now these radical left lunatics want to interfere in elections by using law enforcement...We can’t let that happen", reported NBC News. 
• Trump called on prosecutors in Atlanta to "drop" a case into his effort to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia.  
• He condemned an ongoing federal probe into his handling of classified documents and mocked a New York state investigation into his business and described special counsel Jack Smith as a "lunatic". Smith is handling the investigation into his handling of classified documents and his actions around the attack on the US Capitol. 
• As per NBC News, he added: "With all of this being said, and with a very dark cloud over our beloved country, I have no doubt nevertheless we will make America great again." 
• Trump said that the only crime that he has committed is to ‘fearlessly defend our nation from those who seek to destroy it’. 
• Trump mentioned the Hunter Biden's laptop scandal in his speech. He said: "The FBI and Department of Justice in collusion with Twitter and Facebook in order not to say anything bad about the Hunter Biden laptop from hell, which exposes the Biden family as criminals and which, according to the pollsters would have made a 17 point difference in the election result, we needed a lot less than that, 16.9, it would have been in our favour because our country is going to hell." 
• He added: "This could happen in America. Never thought it could happen. The only crime that I have committed is to fearlessly defend our nation from those who seek to destroy it. From the beginning, the Democrats spied on my campaign. Remember that? They attacked me with an onslaught of fraudulent investigations." 
• Accusing the government of pursuing Republicans, he said: "Russia, Russia, Russia, Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine. Impeachment hoax number one.  Impeachment hoax number two. The illegal and unconstitutional raid on Mar a Lago right here.The lying to the Pfizer courts. The FBI and DOJ relentlessly pursuing Republicans, the unconstitutional changes to election laws by not getting approvals from state legislators, the millions of votes illegally stuffed into ballot boxes and all caught on government cameras." 

 

TRUMP PLEADS NOT GUILTY

The grand jury of a New York court accused Donald Trump on 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree in violation of Penal Law §175.10. Donald Trump has pleaded not guilty to these charges.

BBC reported that falsifying records is usually treated as lesser in terms of wrongdoing, but Trump is also accused of committing felony offences which is a serious crime. It added that if found guilty of felony charges and handed a maximum sentence, it could include prison time. 

New York City District Attorney Alvin Bragg said, as per a BBC report, "At its core, this case today is one with allegations like so many of our white-collar cases. Allegations that someone lied, again and again, to protect their interests and evade the laws to which we are all held accountable." 

After pleading not guilty to all counts of charges, Trump insisted that there was no case to answer. He wrote on his social media website "There was nothing done illegally!". 

TRUMP’S BRIEF ARREST AND TRIAL 

Ex-US President Donald Trump on Tuesday was released after arraignment in the hush money case in a New York court in Lower Manhattan. Earlier in the day, Trump was placed under arrest ahead of the arraignment and taken to the district attorney's office for formalities before the court proceedings. 

Speaking outside the courtroom, Trump's lawyers said: "The indictment does not mention any federal or state crimes. It's disappointing. We are going to fight it." 

The hearing lasted for nearly one hour. Trump, immediately after the hearing, headed to his motorcade that took him to the airport. He went back to the La Guardia airport and took his Boeing 757 private jet. 

WHAT IS THE STORMY DANIELS HUSH MONEY CASE? 

The former US President, Donald Trump, has been charged with attempting to conceal payments made to Stephanie Clifford, also known as 'Stormy Daniels,' a former pornographic film performer. Clifford alleged that she had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006 and accepted a payment of $130,000 (Rs 1 crore approximately) to keep quiet about the alleged incident. The payment was made by Trump's ex-lawyer, Michael Cohen, just before the 2016 presidential election. While Cohen faced imprisonment for several charges, Trump denied any sexual involvement with Clifford. 

Clifford later publicly claimed that she met Trump at a charity golf tournament in 2006, after which they had a sexual encounter in his hotel room. Cohen allegedly paid the hush money to Clifford to prevent her from speaking out about the affair. However, Clifford has claimed that she was coerced legally and physically to remain silent about the incident. 

Trump's recording of the payment to Clifford in his accounts landed him in the legal soup. Trump has been accused of falsifying business records by stating that the payment was for legal fees, which could be considered a violation of campaign laws. Critics of Trump argued that the payment, made just before the election, was an attempt to influence the outcome. 

 In 2018, Cohen pleaded guilty to violating tax laws and campaign finance rules, partly due to his payment to Clifford. He later testified that Trump directed him to make the payment just before the election and that the president reimbursed him for it. While Trump acknowledged the reimbursement, he denied any wrongdoing regarding campaign laws.