Trump's Mug Shots and More: Kirschner Lays Out Indicted Ex-President's Path
Legal analyst Glenn Kirschner laid out what awaits Donald Trump in New York City after the former president was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury on Thursday.
Trump's indictment was handed down following an investigation led by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg of a hush money payout to adult-film star Stormy Daniels. She was paid $130,000 in 2016 to keep quiet about an alleged affair with the former president while Trump was running his first presidential campaign.
The indictment marks the first time a current or former U.S. president has been criminally charged and follows years of investigation into the payout scheme. Trump's former attorney, Michael Cohen, was sentenced in 2018 for breaking campaign finance laws after testifying that he had paid Daniels the hush money.
While the official charges have yet to be announced, two people familiar with Trump's indictment told The New York Times that it includes more than two dozen counts. One of Trump's lawyers, Susan R. Necheles, also told the outlet that Trump is expected to turn himself in on Tuesday for arraignment in State Supreme Court in New York City.
As Kirschner explained on Thursday's episode of his YouTube series Justice Matters, the former president will be "booked" before he has his arraignment hearing, which will involve filling out paperwork, taking fingerprints and "arrest photos," better known as mug shots. Kirschner added that he anticipates Trump's mug shots "will become publicly available pretty promptly."
During his arraignment hearing, Trump will be noticed of his charges, which Kirschner said usually happens by the judge or the clerk of courts reading the indictment to the defendant unless a defense attorney waives the reading. The judge presiding over Trump's case will also decide if he should be jailed or detained pending his trial. A trial date is often not set for six months up to a year after an arraignment hearing, Kirschner said.
"Now, I don't think anybody believes Donald Trump will be ordered jail or detained pending trial," Kirschner added. "There are only two reasons a judge can order a defendant detained pending trial. If the judge concludes that the defendant is a flight risk, such that he will not return to court if released, or if the judge concludes that the defendant is a danger to the community."
"Donald Trump is clearly a danger to the community. He's a danger to our democracy," he continued. "He proved that on January 6. And he has proved that over and over again by posting inflammatory things, things that are designed to incite imminent lawless action ... So yeah, Donald Trump is a danger to the community. But I don't suspect the judge will order him to jail for detained."
If Trump is not detained, Kirschner said, prosecutors will likely seek to lay out "conditions or restrictions" for the defendant before a trial date, which could involve banning Trump from international travel or restricting what he is allowed to say or post publicly. Kirschner said that if Trump "is saying or posting things that could poison the well of a potential jury pool," it may give reason for a judge to limit what the former president is allowed to post before a trial begins.
Earlier this month, Trump had called on supporters to protest days before the date he anticipated an indictment would be handed down, so the former president's battle cry arrived prematurely. His request largely backfired, with counter-protesters in support of Trump's indictment gathering in front of Trump Tower in Manhattan that same day.
Trump has maintained that he is innocent and denies ever having a relationship with Daniels. In a statement on Thursday, the former president reiterated that he believed Bragg's investigation was a "Witch-Hunt" and called it "Political Persecution and Election Interference at the highest level in history."
His attorney, Joe Tacopina, also appeared on Fox News Thursday night to speak with host Sean Hannity about the indictment, saying, "everything they've done here is to gain attention, it's not for the right motives."
"There's no one that could ever convince me that this man was not just charged to affect the elections, affect a pre-election in this country," Tacopina added. "And that's scary. That is scary to me."
Newsweek has reached out to Trump's press team via email for additional comment.
