Trump faces cheek swab humiliation
WHEN former President Donald Trump walks into the 17-storey Art Deco Manhattan District Attorney’s office on Tuesday it will mark the start of what has been called ‘the most dramatic 75 minutes in modern American history’.
As the first US President to face criminal charges, Mr Trump will be arrested and read his rights as he faces 34 counts connected to an alleged $130,000 ‘hush money’ payment made to porn star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 election race.
Mr Trump – who is vying to be the Republican candidate at the next Presidential election – denies all charges and has called last Thursday’s Grand Jury indictment a ‘witch hunt’.
While Mr Trump has denied any liaisons with Ms Daniels – who says she was paid to keep quiet about an alleged affair with him – he faces up to four years in jail if convicted.
A source close to Mr Trump said: ‘While the prospect of him going to jail is slim, it is possible. There is nothing in the constitution which says a Presidential candidate cannot campaign from behind bars. You have the prospect of Donald making campaign speeches via a Zoom call from a cell somewhere.’
The ‘circus’ surrounding the case will begin around 1pm New York time on Tuesday when Mr Trump will arrive at the building in Lower Manhattan which houses the District Attorney’s offices and the Manhattan Supreme Court.
One former prosecutor said: ‘You are going to see unprecedented scenes. There will be crowds outside, shouting both for and against Trump, and cops everywhere. They’ve told the NYPD all leave has been cancelled.’
Mr Trump – surrounded by Secret Service agents – will be taken to a ‘processing room’ where he will be read his rights and arrested.
The source said: ‘The DA’s office and Trump’s team have been in talks and it is unlikely you will see him in handcuffs.’
Mr Trump will, however, have his mugshot and fingerprints taken before a police officer will use a cotton swab to collect a DNA sample from the inside of his cheeks.
He will be asked to provide details such as height, weight and hair colour. Ron Kuby, a veteran New York defence lawyer, joked: ‘That’s where you lie about your weight: I’m 6ft3in and 205lbs. Sure you are. Colour of hair? “Orange”.’
Once Mr Trump has been ‘processed’ he will make his way to Court 59, where, at 7.15pm UK time, Judge Juan Merchan will remove the typed indictment from a folder and formally read out the charges, the first time the world will learn exactly what they are.
Mr Trump is expected to plead not guilty before a date is set for a preliminary hearing and the case adjourned. A journalist for one of the major US networks said: ‘It will be the most dramatic 75 minutes in recent American history. No one has seen anything like this before and it’s unlikely again in our lifetime.’ It is not known if Mr Trump will be allowed to make a speech on the courtroom steps.
A source said: ‘With his track record regarding Jan 6 [when Trump supporters overran the US Capitol building on January 6, 2021, in a bid to overturn the result of the 2020 election] it’s possible the judge will put him under a gag order.
‘It’s going to be interesting to see if Trump will be able to stay quiet. If he breaks a gag order, the judge could throw him in jail.’
Mr Trump has been spending the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. He is expected to fly to New York tomorrow and spend the night at his lavish Fifth Avenue apartment in Trump Tower.
However, his legal woes may only be beginning. He faces possible criminal charges over alleged election tampering in Georgia and a federal probe into whether he illegally took classified documents from the White House.
If Mr Trump is convicted and sent to jail he could end up at notorious Rikers Island in New York in a standard orange prison boiler suit.
His Secret Service agents would be posted outside his cell.
Astonishingly, there is nothing to prevent him serving as President again, even if he is behind bars, though experts have suggested he may be sent to a military jail.
‘All leave is cancelled for New York police’