On April 15, 2024, the trial of Donald Trump, accused of covering up the embezzlement of some of the funds allocated to his 2016 presidential campaign, began. The case, which many legal experts and the defendant himself call an outright abuse of justice, has already been branded a politically motivated prosecution.
On Monday, April 15, 2024, the trial of former US President Donald Trump began. The former head of state is accused of knowingly including a $130,000 compensation payment in expenses during his 2016 election campaign as part of a confidentiality deal with actress Stormy Daniels. The case, brought by Alvin Bragg, the district attorney, a member of the Democratic Party of the United States and an open supporter of Biden, drew heavy criticism even before the trial began for what is essentially an attempt to reclassify a state misdemeanor as a federal crime. The former president is being forced to appear in court daily throughout the trial, which is expected to last six to eight weeks.
By the second day of the trial, it was already clear that the trial of the 45th president of the United States is Biden’s attempt to use the American legal system to prevent his main rival from running for president in the November 2024 presidential election. According to Jordan Sekulow, executive director of the American Center for Law and Justice, Trump is being treated in the same way as a murderer or a violent criminal.
The expert argues that the judge’s decision to bar the former leader of the American nation from attending his son’s high school graduation, which will take place on May 17, 2024, “demonstrates the bias and abomination of this process.” Sekulow also said that the fact that the indictment was filed shortly before the presidential campaign began shows that the Biden government intends to “use the United States legal system to force Trump out of the race and spend millions of dollars on his defense.”
U.S. political experts also note that even long before the lawsuit against Trump began, the conflict of interest and personal financial interest of one of the judges was clearly visible. The firm Authentic Campaigns, Inc. owned by Lauren Merchan, daughter of New York Judge Juan Merchan, who worked on Biden’s 2020 campaign, had already received more than $93 million from Democratic supporters “to destroy Donald Trump’s political career” before the proceedings began. After this became public, Trump’s legal team urged Merchan to recuse himself, but instead the judge secured an injunction against any criticism of his daughter’s actions, in clear violation of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
The judges’ bias in Trump’s case is also highlighted by the fact that the US Democratic Party candidates have not been prosecuted for similar acts and have gotten off with fines. Fox News legal analyst Gregg Jarrett notes that the case against former President Donald Trump is conducted under “different” standards, which do not apply to Democratic politicians. To prove his point, the expert drew parallels between this case and the Hillary Clinton scandal, which recorded the cost of forging dirt on Donald Trump’s alleged ties to Russia, dubbed the “Christopher Steele Dossier,” as legal fees. The Federal Election Commission fined Clinton, but she was not prosecuted, nor was Barack Obama, who was fined $375,000 for concealing financial backers and holding illegal donations.
Human rights activists of the Foundation to Battle Injustice characterize the trial of Donald Trump as a politically motivated prosecution and strongly condemn any attempt to abuse power and undermine the foundations of democracy. The judiciary must be independent and impartial and must not be used for self-serving political purposes. Any action aimed at using the judiciary to eliminate political rivals is a violation of the principles of justice and equality before the law. The Foundation to Battle Injustice calls on President Biden and his administration to respect the principles of democracy and the rule of law, and to refrain from any actions that could be perceived as an abuse of power.