Donald Trump: — A political earthquake

– This is a political earthquake. can lead to mass political violence, DrIt could have a decisive impact on the presidential elections in 2024, accusing other politicians and breaking confidence in the political system.

This is what Hilmar Mjelde, professor of political science at the University of Western Norway, wrote in a letter to Dagbladet.

– There could be more Latin American conditions in American politics than there really are, he continues.

On Thursday afternoon local time, a grand jury in a courtroom in lower Manhattan, New York, decided that there were grounds to indict former US President Donald Trump, according to The Guardian. New York times.

The prosecutor confirms the indictment and provides information on it Twitter They were in contact with Trump’s attorney to coordinate Trump’s appearance at the attorney general’s office.

In a statement on Thursday, Trump maintained his innocence.

– This is political persecution and election interference at the highest level in history, Trump says in the statement.

bribe

No current or former US president has been charged with a criminal case.

What exactly Trump was accused of is not yet publicly known. according to CNN If it relates to more than 30 counts of commercial fraud.

According to The New York Times, the indictment is related to the so-called Hush money case.

Pornographic actress Stephanie Clifford, better known by the stage name Stormy Daniels, claims she had an affair with Trump in 2006 – something Trump denies.

Trump has been investigated for his role in paying $130,000 (about NOK 1,365,000) to Daniels just weeks before the 2016 election – in exchange for her silence on the alleged affair.

– As expected

Trump’s former attorney and lawyer, Michael Cohen, was convicted of his role in the case in 2018. He admitted to funneling money to Daniels just before the 2016 election, and has since paid Trump for “legal expenses.”

Trump is now expected to surrender, be fingerprinted and photographed, and appear before a judge. But the logistics of this are a bit sketchy at the moment, Mjelde writes.

– How was this expected or unexpected?

—as might have been expected recently, but surprisingly so if we look back in time. This is because US prosecutors earlier dropped this case, but now they are back up again. It’s not clear why that is, and the New York Attorney General’s office must now explain why, Mildy writes.

– One point could be that sitting presidents enjoy immunity from criminal prosecution, also at the state level. It generally makes it easier to court Trump now versus the past.

The case demonstrates that presidents can also be prosecuted and held accountable, says Migildy.

– On the other hand, the threshold should be relatively high and the case should be leak-proof, for reasons of trust in the rule of law. Especially when the president is still a candidate. There is a lot at stake here.

Not filled

Migildy explains:

The problem is that this is the least serious case against Trump of all that is going on. This is why I was skeptical that this indictment was politically and legally viable, and I think Trump has good cards here. He is unlikely to risk more than a fine.

On his own social networking platform, Truth Social, Donald Trump himself claimed that he “will be arrested on Tuesday” last week. So it did not become so.

In the same message, he urged his followers to protest – similar to what he did before storming the US Congress on January 6, 2021.

However, Mjelde does not believe that larger – perhaps violent – riots are likely to occur in the near future.

No, there is no evidence for that. We will not witness any January 6, 2021-style clashes. His supporters are not mobilized in the same way, and the authorities are well prepared. Now we have to see what the state’s attorney has to offer, writes Migildy.