Vendetta, or Justice? A Nation Divided

"I believe this Witch-Hunt will backfire massively on Joe Biden,."

"The American people realize exactly what the Radical Left Democrats are doing here. Everyone can see it. So our Movement, and our Party – united and strong – will first defeat Alvin Bragg, and then we will defeat Joe Biden, and we are going to throw every last one of these Crooked Democrats out of office so we can MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"

Former U.S. President Donald Trump

Donald Trump has been considered the man to beat for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024  Getty Images

"The Manhattan DA's crusade against President Donald J. Trump is nothing more than political persecution and, just like with every other hoax that President Trump has been targeted with, there is no crime whatsoever, except for election interference by radical Democrats through weaponization of our justice system against President Trump and his supporters."

Steven Cheung, Trump campaign spokesman

"We urge you to refrain from these inflammatory accusations, withdraw your demand for information, and let the criminal justice process proceed without unlawful political interference." 

Leslie Dubeck, general counsel in the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg

 

"Officers have been cautioned to remain vigilant and maintain situational awareness, both inside courthouses and while on perimeter patrols, as evidenced by the incident on Tuesday afternoon outside of Manhattan Supreme Court."

Manhattan Court

Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Waco Airport on March 25, 2023Waco, Texas. AP

"I am not afraid of what's to come", Trump said in a fundraising email. In fact, 24 hours after his NY indictment a whopping $4 million in donations reached his campaign coffers, and another million the following day. "It's politics, I think they're just dying to find a way to keep him from being eligible for running for re-election", one of his supporters, 58-year-old Mark Funk opined at a beer garden in Houston. 

Yet 44 percent of Republications feel that Donald Trump would do best to drop out of the race should he be indicted, a Reuters/Ipsos poll released last week indicated. "He's ready to fight. He's gearing up", stated one of Trumps lawyers, Joseph Tacopina who added that his client would not be expected to wear handcuffs at his Tuesday court appearance. Bail would not have to be posted on his release, he said.

But he is due to be fingerprinted and photographed in the New York courthouse, the first ex-president to ever face criminal charges, in a notorious case that involves hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels, in 2016. Which brings to mind the Watergate scandal that caught then-President Richard Nixon in unsavoury criminal revelations. The only reason he escaped indictment in that case was because the prosecutor argued only when a president leaves office can he be indicted.

This is a country that has divided itself on either side of an agonizingly wide trench separating Republicans from Democrats, a polarization of venomous dissonance. Accusations passing back and forth between the two solitudes, each hissing the hot breath of a fire-breathing dragon of hatred and suspicion. The country itself is aflame with vehemence, one against the other. The nation's president just chided Israel for its disruptions and divisions caused by a move to modify its judicial system.

President Biden has chosen to leave Washington temporarily rather than embroil himself personally in the indictment against his ideological adversary.  As for Donald Trump, he has been busy drumming up support for his party's nomination to challenge President Joe Biden in the 2024 election. And even as he faces charges he will continue his campaigning.

The indictment brought against Mr. Trump lacks information on the specific charges which remain under seal. Reports from CNN reveal there are 34 counts related to business fraud -- to all of which the former president plans to plead not guilty. Trump holds he is "completely innocent", accusing Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat, of planning to damage his electoral opportunities.

Former vice=oresident Mike Pence spoke of the charges against his former boss as a "terrible message to the world surrounding U.S. justice. I'm very troubled by it", said Mr. Pence, himself a possible 2024 candidate. Similarly, senior Republicans in the House of Representatives plan to investigate Prosecutor Bragg, demanding he reveal the documents involved, along with other confidential material that led his investigation. 

"You and many of your colleagues have chosen to collaborate with Mr. Trump's efforts to vilify and denigrate the integrity of elected state prosecutors and trial judges", District Attorney Bragg wrote to Republican lawmakers, in response to their threats. Security has been stepped up around the courthouse, reflecting Trump's March 18 call to his supporters to protest any arrest. 

It will take at least over a year before any potential trial is scheduled, according to legal experts. The trial, in other words, could take place during or following the presidential campaign. The indictment against Trump does not necessarily preclude him from running for re-election. And he has appealed for nationwide protests, warning of "death & destruction" should he be charged.