He was finally indicted for “keeping his mouth shut about the affair”… but now “former President Trump strikes back” begins!

Former President Donald J. Trump, 76, was indicted for the first time in history as a former president of the United States. In ’16, when he was a candidate for the presidential election, he is being pursued for allegedly paying pornographic actress Stormy Daniels (44) $130,000 (approximately 17 million yen) through his former legal advisor Michael Cohen (56) as hush money for an affair. Ben Protess of The New York Times, who has been covering the indictment for more than a year, explains.

The man who indicted Trump is Alvin Bragg, 49, who became the first black U.S. attorney in Manhattan, N.Y., in January 2010. He is a well-known Trump hater who has publicly stated that he has filed 100 lawsuits in the past, and he wanted to bring the indictment at any cost. After convening a new grand jury and accumulating evidence, he decided to indict. The act of paying hush money itself is not illegal, but he is suspected of recording it as legal fees paid to Mr. Cohen and making false reports. In addition, arranging to bribe Daniels into silence shortly before the election may have violated campaign finance laws.”

In what would be a headwind for Trump, who has announced a run for president in ’24, Protez shook his head, saying, “The hurdles are high to convict him.

‘At first glance, it appears to be an indictment based on the law, but the testimony that Prosecutor Bragg has gathered is ridiculous. It’s more like a political farce than a pure indictment,” Protez said.

Alex Conant, a Republican consultant and former communications director for Sen.

As Elon Musk, 51, founder of Tesla and SpaceX, tweeted, ‘If Trump is arrested, he will be re-elected president by a wide margin.’ The indictment has increased the enthusiasm of Trump’s supporters for action and strengthened their unity. In fact, 93% of Republican supporters and 70% of independents view the indictment as politically motivated.”

Last November, Mask restored Trump’s Twitter account, which had been permanently frozen, and it quickly became the eighth most followed Twitter account in the world, with about 88 million followers. The eye of the man who understands Trump’s influence best cannot be ignored.

He said, “Right now, besides Trump, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, 44, and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, 51, are being discussed as leading presidential contenders by Republicans, but neither of them has as much name recognition or policy message as Trump does. In polls taken after the indictment, a majority of Republican supporters favored Trump. DeSantis and Haley had 21% and 5% support, respectively. Unless a younger candidate emerges from the Democratic Party with a clear message like former President Barack Obama’s “Yes, we can!

Even with the headwind of the indictment as a tailwind, Trump’s counterattack has begun.

From the April 21/28, 2023 issue of FRIDAY