Washington
CNN
—
Former President Donald Trump made a series of false claims to media cameras this week as he entered a Manhattan courtroom where he was on trial on charges of falsifying business records related to a hush-money scheme during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Below is a fact check of the four claims he made regarding this case. (This particular article leaves aside the false claims he made in court regarding various other subjects.)
court security
President Trump spoke to reporters inside the courthouse on Tuesday after the New York Times published an article in which he said he was frustrated by the small crowd he saw when he arrived at the courthouse for opening statements on Monday. He told the group: court. ”
He added on social media on Tuesday: “In the lower Manhattan courthouse, literally thousands of people were evicted by steel posts and police from the small side entrance where I entered and exited. This is an armed camp to keep people out.” In comments inside the court on Thursday, he said: There's no one within 5 blocks. ”
facts first: All of Mr. Trump's claims are false. Police did not remove “thousands” from the courthouse. In addition, various safety measures have been taken in this area, such as some road closures and barricades by police officers, but there are many people who say, “This courthouse is blocked off,'' or “It's several blocks long, so you can't get close to this courthouse.'' “You can't do that” is not true. Or, “There's no one within 5 blocks.” There is actually a designated protest zone in the park for the trial. right across from the courthouse – and people are allowed to drive to the front of the courthouse and walk into the building, which remains open to the public. If people arrive early enough in the morning, they can even gain access to the trial courtroom itself and an overflow room where near-live video of the proceedings will be shown.
In reality, very few of President Trump's supporters have chosen to participate. According to a CNN reporter reporting from the court area, the number of visible Trump supporters was well below 100 at the start of the trial in mid-April, but in subsequent days there were often fewer than three. .
Details can be found here.
Michael Cohen's Crimes and Trump
On Monday, Trump said as he left court that the crimes committed by his former lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, “have nothing to do with me.”
Cohen is expected to be a key witness for the prosecution. President Trump said, “He got in trouble for something that had nothing to do with me. He got in trouble. He went to jail. This has nothing to do with me. This had something to do with the taxi company he owned, which was simply something he owned, medals, debts, and many other things, but I had nothing to do with it. ”
Facts first: President Trump's claim that Cohen's prison sentence “has nothing to do with me” is false. Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison in 2018. multiple crimes, some of which were directly related to Trump. Most notably, Cohen was convicted. campaign finance crime related to hush money scheme The same hush-money payments that Trump tried to cover up during his 2016 presidential campaign over his alleged extramarital affair are at the center of the latest charges against him.Cohen is Also sentenced to 2 months imprisonmentto be executed concurrently with the three-year prison term. Lied to Congress in 2017 about previous discussions about potentially building Trump Tower in Moscow, Russiaincluding about The extent of President Trump's involvement in the canceled Moscow initiative And when in 2016 did the debate end? (The discussion continued until June 2016, the month after President Trump) he became the presumptive Republican candidateAs Cohen claimed, there was no conclusion reached in January 2016, before the first vote was taken. )
Cohen referred to Trump as “Individual-1” and said in 2018 when he pleaded guilty to charges of making false statements before the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. Loyalty to individual-1. ” When Cohen pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations in 2018, he said he broke the law “with the cooperation and direction of a candidate for federal office” of Trump.
Gag order against Trump
As he left the courtroom on Tuesday, Trump approached the camera and began speaking, complaining that he was “not allowed to speak.”
Trump had criticized Judge Juan Melchán's gag order against him. Marchan is holding a hearing Tuesday morning to consider prosecutors' claims that Trump violated the gag order in a series of online posts, including a series of posts by potential Republican presidential nominees about the incident on social media. Also included were people who shared other people's articles related to .
President Trump claimed that he was not even allowed to publish the article. He claimed that the article he was referring to said, “This incident is fake.” He added that he “doesn't even know if it's okay to come in.” He also claimed that while others are allowed to lie and talk about him, “I'm not allowed to say anything.”
President Trump said, “I want to talk to you all. I want to say everything that's on my mind, but I'm restricted because of the gag order.''
facts first: Ash It's been there before, Trump made Merchan's gag order sound much broader than it actually was.of gag order It does not prohibit President Trump from declaring the incident a sham or from sharing others' claims that the incident is a sham. Additionally, President Trump may not speak in the media about the case, defend his actions at issue in the case, criticize the judge or district attorney involved in the case, or appear in speeches, media interviews, or online. It also does not prohibit presidential election campaigns. Post.
Rather, the gag order prohibits President Trump from three specific categories of speech:
1) speaking publicly or directing another person to speak publicly about known or foreseeable witnesses, especially their participation in the case;
2) speaking publicly, or directing others to speak publicly, about prosecutors (other than Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg), district attorney staff and court staff, or family members of such persons, including Mr. Bragg; (if these statements were made).intent to interfere with the incident
3) speaking publicly or directing another person to speak publicly about a juror or prospective juror;
In his comments Tuesday, President Trump said that while the article may have a specific headline condemning the incident in general, “somewhere deep down” in the text, he mentions it for the gag. It was pointed out that someone's name may have been mentioned who is not authorized to do so. order.
It's unclear how Marchan would view, for example, Trump sharing an article in which a witness' name is only mentioned deep in the text. But so far, articles in which prosecutors allege that President Trump violated the gag order have featured headlines that make it perfectly clear that the article discusses a likely Cohen witness. It was published.
Biden and the incident
Trump said as he left court on Tuesday. “By the way, this trial is all about Biden. You know, this is all about Biden, but in case anyone has any questions.” He is a person who exists,” he added. “This is all an indictment of Biden,” he said as he left office on Friday.
Facts first: Mr. Trump's claims have no basis. There is no evidence that Mr. Biden played any role in launching or managing the prosecution of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a local elected official who does not report to the federal government.of indictment The lawsuit was approved by a grand jury of members of the public.
Mr. Trump has repeatedly called out Matthew Colangelo, a lawyer on Mr. Bragg's team, while making such claims. Mr. Colangelo left the Justice Department in 2022 and joined the district attorney's office as a senior advisor to Mr. Bragg. But there is no evidence that Biden had anything to do with Colangelo's hiring decision. Mr. Colangelo and Mr. Bragg were colleagues before Mr. Bragg was elected Manhattan district attorney in 2021.
Before Mr. Colangelo worked at the Justice Department, he and Mr. Bragg worked simultaneously in the New York State Attorney General's Office, where Mr. Colangelo investigated Mr. Trump's philanthropic activities and Mr. Trump's financial practices and filed various charges against the Trump administration. was involved in filing a lawsuit.
