Former President Donald Trump voiced his anger towards Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and others in statements made outside the courthouse where his trial on hush money charges is ongoing for 8 straight minutes.
Monday’s court session was cut short due to a juror’s dental appointment. After the adjournment, Trump reiterated his claim of being “totally innocent” in a case where he is facing over 30 charges linked to a hush money payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels to conceal an alleged affair.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s office, led by Bragg, asserts that Trump falsified business records to cover up the payment, while Trump denies any misconduct. Trump described his payment to his former attorney, Michael Cohen, as a “legal expense.”
“They called a payment to a lawyer a legal expense in the books. They didn’t call it construction. They didn’t say you’re building a building,” Trump said. “It was called a payment to a lawyer because, as you know, [Michael] Cohen is a lawyer. He represented a lot of people over the years. I’m not the only one. And [he] wasn’t very good in a lot of ways in terms of his representation, but he represented a lot of people.”
Cohen claims Trump was fully aware of the reason behind the payment to Daniels, though Cohen is now disbarred after pleading guilty to bank fraud and other charges. Trump, however, stated on Monday that Cohen’s legal troubles are unrelated to him.
Trump criticized the ongoing trial, calling it an attempt to interfere with his election campaign by keeping him in court rather than on the campaign trail.
“I should be in Georgia right now. I should be in Florida right now. I should be in a lot of places campaigning right now. Instead I’m sitting here and this trial will go on for a very long time. It’s very unfair,” he said.
Trump added, “People in the court just said to me, I can’t believe it.”
“This is a Biden witch hunt to keep me off the campaign trail. So far it’s not working because my poll numbers are higher than they’ve ever been,” he said.
