Former US President Donald Trump was unconcerned about the possibility of an indictment in the lower Manhattan Tax Evasion case after Attorney General Letitia James’ prosecution, even as the city and the rest of the US were on high alert for protests from supporters.
Trump is composed and has repeatedly stated, particularly on Saturday night, that he is unconcerned about the possibility of criminal charges stemming from the Manhattan district attorney’s investigation into his role in paying hush money to adult film star Stormy Daniels as he returned from a campaign rally in Waco, Texas.
According to media sources, Trump’s reactions to inquiries indicated that he was unhappy that his good vibes with his “Make America Great Again” supporters in Texas may be disrupted by the reality of a probable indictment as soon as this week.
He claimed in a taped interview with reporters aboard his Trump Force One plane that he was unconcerned about the investigation, even as he attacked the case and media coverage of it.
“I’m not frustrated by it. It’s a fake investigation. We did nothing wrong… I told you that,” the former President said before proceeding to lash out at the NBC News reporter on the plane who asked if he was frustrated.
“This is fake news, and NBC is one of the worst. Don’t ask me any more questions.”
Trump admitted he had actually no insight into the investigations. “I have no idea what’s going to happen. They’ve already dropped the case, from what I understand.”
Trump went on to attack the investigation insisting the case is over even as he asserted it was fake though not supported by any concrete evidence.
“If anything ever happened with the case, it’s a fake case. This is a fake case. They have absolutely nothing. They have it in reverse. They should indict Michael Cohen for all the lies that he told,” he was quoted by the British newspaper Independent. as he referred to the attorney who allegedly made the hush money payment .
“They may not do that, but that’s what should be happening.
The lawsuit revolves around a $130,000 payment made by Trump to Daniels through Cohen in the final days of the 2016 campaign.
Trump allegedly compensated Cohen with $35,000 cheques written out of his own cash and recorded in account books as legal expenditures. Cohen eventually pled guilty to federal charges in 2018.
However, it is unclear what charges District Attorney Alvin Bragg will bring against Trump, though some members of his legal team believe the most likely scenario involves a base charge of falsifying business records combined with potential tax fraud because Trump would not have paid taxes on the payments.
Trump made the statements aboard the aeroplane during a conversation with four reporters. The Guardian claimed it received the video after the reporter, who had been confirmed to travel with the former president, was removed from the itinerary the day before the trip due to recent reporting that the campaign did not approve of.
From a 2024 campaign standpoint, the former President was encouraged, noting how he had gone ahead in recent polls amid reports of an impending prosecution and the Republican base rallying to his defence.
“We’ve had the best polls we’ve ever had,” Trump said.
Using a derisive nickname for Florida governor and expected 2024 candidate Ron DeSantis, Trump said: “Ron DeSanctimonious is crashing. They’re already looking for somebody to take his place.”
