BREAKING

Expected to appear in court, Trump slams 'weaponization' of justice

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
3 Aug 2023 18:12

The allegations that he attempted to upend the elections, which involve six other unnamed co-conspirators, are his third criminal indictment since March.

Former US President Donald Trump arrives to speak at the Moms for Liberty meeting in Philadelphia, Friday, June 30, 2023. (AP)

Metal barricades were erected today around the E. Barret Prettyman federal courthouse in Washington D.C. as former US President Donald Trump is expected to appear in court today.

The GOP frontrunner is facing charges of allegedly conspiring to overturn the 2020 elections.

The allegations that he attempted to upend the elections, which involve six other unnamed co-conspirators, are his third criminal indictment since March.

If guilty, the 77-year-old former President will be arrested on-site.

As police officers gather outside the courthouse and reporters from all over the world fought overnight to secure a spot inside, Trump is expected to plead not guilty at 4:00 pm (2000 GMT).

Magistrate Judge Moxila Upadhyaya will be presiding over Trump's court appearance today.

In reaction to this, Trump alleged moments ago an "unprecedented weaponization of 'Justice'" and accused Biden of ordering the Justice Department to charge him with "as many crimes as can be concocted" in order to distract Trump from focusing on his campaign.

"The Dems don't want to run against me or they would not be doing this unprecedented weaponization of 'Justice.' But soon, in 2024, it will be our turn," Trump said earlier in the day on his social media platform, Truth Social.

On Tuesday, Special Counsel Jack Smith presented a 45-page indictment of Trump, charging him with conspiracy to defraud the US for attempting "to obstruct the nation’s process of collecting, counting, and certifying the results of the presidential election."

"The purpose of the conspiracy was to overturn the legitimate results of the 2020 presidential election by using knowingly false claims of election fraud," the indictment said.

Smith argues that Trump's actions of inciting an attack on the Capitol were owed to his electoral defeat against Joe Biden, which he called an "unprecedented assault on the seat of American democracy."

Trump is further facing escalated charges in a case involving classified documents. Special counsel Jack Smith has expanded the case, accusing Trump and his employees of attempting to delete Mar-a-Lago security footage that was being sought by a grand jury investigating the mishandling of government records.

He is scheduled to go on trial in May 2024.

He is also facing charges in New York under allegations of paying hush money to an adult performer right before the 2016 election.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to both the documents and hush money cases and accused prosecutors of trying to thwart his campaign's "fake" indictments.