But this strategy has rarely been as clear and transparent as it is now. During his first criminal trial in Manhattan, Trump persistently argued that his various indictments and civil lawsuits constituted “election interference” in 2024.
He is not only charged with the same crime in this case.Trump’s own actual and alleged election interference is defined as: largely About his biggest scandals and legal troubles to date.
“Election interference!!!” President Trump posted on social media Monday morning, adding: sad! “
“This was done with the intent of harming the worst presidential opponent in the history of our country,” Trump said in court Monday morning.
President Trump seemed to be nodding to the rubber-and-glue strategy even Sunday night.
“Tomorrow morning, somewhat ironically, I will be appearing in New York Criminal Court for a trial on election interference,” he wrote.
This is coming from a man accused of three of four criminal indictments, impeached twice on election interference-related charges, and experiencing his first major controversy as president on those charges. President Trump has also unapologetically sought political favors involving foreign government opponents of elections, even though foreign election interference is illegal.
The tenuousness of Mr. Trump’s claims is immediately apparent. He argues that the gag order, which prohibits Trump from making statements that could taint the trial, amounts to election interference, since Trump is only going to trial while he is a presidential candidate.
People can decide for themselves how large the “hush money” bill in Manhattan is. But this case involves an established crime and a fairly transparent effort to withhold information from the American public at a critical juncture in the 2016 election. (Mr. Trump is accused of illegally concealing a $130,000 payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels on the eve of the election to prevent her allegations of an affair from becoming public. )
Whatever the reason, President Trump also lied. And the case, to be decided by a jury of Trump’s peers, should conclude well before the party’s conventions this summer, allowing Americans to make their own decisions about the proceedings. .
In other words, it is a far more substantive trial than a criminal trial that seems premature. And at least there will be an actual verdict on Trump’s own election meddling charges soon.
Below is a summary of what is known about Trump’s actions and how they compare to this so-called “election interference.”
Manhattan’s hush money scandal
It’s unclear whether efforts by Trump and his then-lawyer Michael Cohen to silence Daniels would have changed the outcome of the close 2016 election. But there is evidence that they were concerned about the impact her claims would have on the campaign.
Back in 2015, Trump and Cohen met with David Pecker, then the chairman of American Media and publisher of the National Enquirer tabloid. Mr. Pecker, the first witness in Monday’s trial, offered to buy the rights to articles that reflected poorly on the Trump campaign and killed it. This is a practice known as “catch and kill.”
Mr. Cohen also released a recording from September 2016 featuring Mr. Trump, suggesting that efforts to bury such articles were indeed campaign-related.
Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s report does not prove that President Trump or members of his campaign colluded with Russia to influence the 2016 election. But just hours after President Trump publicly said, “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you can find those 30,000 missing emails,” Russia announced that It turned out that the attack was targeted at an office hacking operation. (Trump insisted it was a joke, even though he continued to seek foreign help in his campaign.)
Trump’s senior advisers also met with Russian hopefuls for Clinton at Trump Tower. And the bipartisan Senate report left open the possibility that there was further “collusion” behind the scenes.
Ukraine scandal and impeachment
Apparently undaunted by the Russia investigation, President Trump dispatched lawyer Rudy Giuliani to work with Ukrainian authorities to dig up dirt on his front-runner, Joe Biden, early in the 2020 campaign. I tried. This is something Giuliani freely acknowledged was politically motivated. Mr. Giuliani said he was not interfering with the election, but rather “interfering with the investigation… because that information is very useful to my client and may be useful to my government.” Because there isn’t,” he argued.
Trump was impeached after it was revealed in a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that he linked Zelensky’s announcement of an investigation into the Biden family to U.S. actions that Ukraine wanted. Multiple witnesses said there was a payoff.
Impeachment and indictment on January 6th
President Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election based on lies about voter fraud will remain fresh in people’s minds. He currently faces charges both federally and in Fulton County, Georgia, for election destruction. The charges allege that he illegally pressured state officials, organized a slate of “fake electors,” attempted to abuse the Department of Justice, pressured then-Vice President Pence, and lobbied Congress to elect Biden. These include using the riots of January 6, 2021 to block his confirmation. victory.
Whether any of these acts are determined to be illegal or his role in them is primarily a matter of public record. Although there was no real reason to doubt the results of the 2020 election, Trump pulled multiple levers to overturn it.
He was also impeached shortly after January 6th. The charge at the time was incitement of insurrection rather than broader election interference, but the idea was that Trump incited the crowd in hopes of changing the outcome of Congress that day. A historic number of Senate Republicans (seven) voted to convict Trump, and many others who voted to acquit said their vote was based on a technicality rather than Trump’s innocence. It showed that there is.
Sen. John Thune (R.S.D.), the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, said while voting for Trump’s acquittal that he has “undermined confidence in our election system and interfered with the peaceful transfer of power.” What former President Trump did was inexcusable.”
