An agreement has been reached between prosecutors in Manhattan and Trump’s legal team over the terms of the former Presidents surrender. The news comes less than a day after the Manhattan Grand Jury announced their vote to indict the former president for his hush money case with Stormy Daniels.
According to the report, Trump will not be handcuffed when he surrenders. The unusual event will mark the first instance of a former US commander-in-chief being arrested and brought to court.
A court representative has confirmed that Donald Trump’s court appearance is scheduled for Tuesday, April 4th, at 2:15 pm ET. Joe Tacopina, Trump’s lawyer, remarked that “he will not be put in handcuffs. I’m sure they’ll try to make sure they get some joy out of this by parading him.” Trump will have secret service protection the entire time.
Before the indictment was announced, Trump’s legal team had expressed hesitation about Trump surrendering in person, suggesting that he’s allowed a quiet surrender, with a remote appearance instead. They have even referenced guidance from the secret service regarding potential security risks. However, Trump apparently rejected those ideas.
Reports in early March indicated that the former president rationalized that since he would have to surrender himself to authorities for fingerprinting and a mug shot at the courthouse anyway, he might as well turn it into a “spectacle.”
The indictment of a former US president is an unprecedented event in American history. It remains to be seen how the legal proceedings will unfold and what impact they will have on Trump’s political future.
According to the Guardian, Trump had rejected a remote approach, and told various allies over at the time that he didn’t even care if someone shot him because it would make him a martyr.
“Trump’s increasing insistence that he wants to be handcuffed behind his back for a perp walk appears to come from various motivations, including that he wants to project defiance in the face of what he sees as an unfair prosecution and that it would galvanize his base for his 2024 presidential campaign.”
After the indictment was announced, Don Jr slammed the move as “communist-level sh*t”.
WATCH:
Don Jr going off:
"This is communist-level shit. This is stuff that would make Mao, Stalin, Pol Pot, it would make them blush. It's so flagrant, it's so crazed." pic.twitter.com/nVf4U990RD
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) March 30, 2023