Former US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he will be appealing an indictment against him by a grand jury in Manhattan, claiming that the officials involved in the case are biased and that he is standing in the way of the US justice system coming after the American people.
“The Judge ‘assigned’ to my Witch Hunt Case… HATES ME,” Trump said in a statement via social media. “He strong armed Allen [Weisselberg], which a judge is not allowed to do, and treated my companies, which didn’t ‘plead,’ VICIOUSLY. APPEALING!”
The judge to whom Trump is referring is Juan Manuel Marchan. Marchan was hand picked by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, Trump said. Marchan “railroaded” Weisselberg, the former Trump Organization CFO, into taking a plea deal on tax fraud and business record falsification charges, Trump said.
Trump also changed the biography on his Truth Social account on Friday to read: “They’re not coming after me, they’re coming after you – I’m just standing in the way!”
On Thursday, a Manhattan grand jury voted to indict Trump on charges related to his alleged role in a hush money payment and cover-up involving a purported affair with adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Trump denies the accusations, as well as the alleged affair with Daniels.
Earlier in the day, Trump lawyer Joe Tacopina made it clear that there was "zero" chance the former president would take a plea deal in the case against him. Trump’s legal team expects the indictment against him to be unsealed early next week, Tacopina added.
Trump is expected to appear in court on Tuesday for arraignment, US media reported. Trump said in a post on Thursday that he does not believe he can get a fair trial in New York. Meanwhile, Trump's successor, US President Joe Biden, said on Friday that would not comment on the indictment.
Netizens School Pelosi on Presumption of Innocence Over Her Trump Indictment Tweet
Pelosi tweeted that "everyone has the right to a trial to prove innocence” and expressed hope that Trump “will peacefully respect the system, which grants him that right.”
Prominent member of the US Democratic Party and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi got roasted online over a remark about the indictment of the 45th President of the United States Donald Trump. In a recent tweet of hers, Pelosi argued that the Grand Jury that made the decision to indict the ex-POTUS “has acted upon the facts and the law,” before making a rather strange claim about how a trial is supposed to work. “No one is above the law, and everyone has the right to a trial to prove innocence,” she wrote, adding that she hopes that Trump “will peacefully respect the system, which grants him that right.”
Quite a few social media users were quick to remind Pelosi about a thing called the presumption of innocence, and that a person who goes on trial is regarded as innocent until proven guilty, not the other way around.
“So now trials are about proving your innocence? Silly me I always thought they were for the government to try and prove your guilt. Guess we no longer believe in INNOCENT until PROVEN guilty,” one of them mused.
“No Nancy, we have the right to be presumed innocent until the prosecution PROVES guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. That’s how our system is supposed to work,” another one stated. “I know you’re building a system where we’re presumed guilty until innocent but that’s un-American!”
“Are you truly this ignorant? This imbecilic? This misguided? This fascistic? A "trial to prove innocence"? Are you familiar with the concept of presumption of innocence as the DEFAULT a priori position?” yet another netizen inquired, calling Pelosi a disgrace while another social media user wondered if the ex-speaker’s remark was a “Freudian slip or sliding the Overton window.”
Are you truly this ignorant? This imbecilic? This misguided? This fascistic? A "trial to prove innocence"? Are you familiar with the concept of presumption of innocence as the DEFAULT a priori position? You are a disgrace. https://t.co/yAYCIhEqCe
— Gad Saad (@GadSaad) March 31, 2023
The politicized indictment of former President Trump is just the latest example of the Dem establishment putting their own personal and partisan political interest ahead of the interests of the American people and our country. It is a despicable, extremely dangerous turning point…
— Tulsi Gabbard 🌺 (@TulsiGabbard) March 31, 2023
A number of social media users have also suggested that Pelosi is the one to talk about not being “above the law,” pointing at the insider trading allegations that plagued her career as of late.
Your insider trading has been above the law for your entire career... sit down.
— Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) March 31, 2023
The Daily Wire's Ben Shapiro tweeted, "Uh it's ‘innocent until proven guilty’ not opportunity to ‘prove innocence.’"
And there were also those who argued that “everyone is above political targeting and the weaponization of the law,” apparently referring to the circumstances of Trump’s indictment.
Everyone is above political targeting and the weaponization of the law.
— Liz Wheeler (@Liz_Wheeler) March 31, 2023
The Manhattan Grand Jury made its decision to indict Trump as the latter has become increasingly popular among the Republican voters in the United States ahead of the presidential election in the country next year.
The indictment is apparently related to Trump’s alleged role in hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels back in 2016, prior to the presidential election that year.
“This tweet — and the indictment it’s praising — is a mockery of our justice system,” posted Sen. Ted Cruz, Texas Republican. “Pelosi says Trump has a ‘right’ to ‘prove [his] innocence.’ That’s exactly BACKWARDS: Under our Constitution, you’re innocent until proven guilty.”
House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik, New York Republican, said, “Guilty until proven innocent is not how it works in America.”
Ms. Stefanik said in a statement, “Although radical Authoritarian Nancy Pelosi no longer holds her Speaker’s gavel, she is still considered a leader in the House Democrat Caucus. Her comments on the unprecedented and corrupt indictment of Former President Trump are deeply offensive, unAmerican, and completely counter to the American principles of equal justice under the law and the presumption of innocence until proven guilty. These comments must be condemned by all.
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