It could very well be the title of a superhero comic, but reality sometimes surpasses even the wildest fantasies. “Orange Man in Banania“(“orange man in banana republic”) is the title of an article published by Bradley Devlin on the website of a conservative American magazine on April 4th. As “The Orange Man” Donald Trump, with his orange bill. As Banana Republic United States. In the background is an image of the former Republican president leaving the Manhattan courtroom on April 4.

Conservatives in the United States are clearly suspicious of the criminal prosecution now unprecedented in American history against the 76-year-old ex-president.

OUR Donald Trump now, just a few months after the official announcement of his candidacy for the presidential anointing Republican Party in connection with the 2024 election to be indicted in a 2016 case, such as funding a former porn star Stormy Daniels.

Representatives of the center and the left of the political spectrum are “celebrating”, arguing that in the United States no one, not even a former president, can be above the law. In contrast, members of the right-wing political spectrum, such as Bradley Devlin in this case, argue that American justice is not opposed to Trump as it would be to an “ordinary” American citizen.

“Trump is not just a man […] is a former President of the United States and the first to face criminal charges since leaving office. In the eyes of the left, he is the last bogeyman, the symbol of all that is wrong in the world (ss for the left)…” Devlin notes, looking for political expediency in the prosecution of the former president and current presidential candidate.

“Problematic” accusation

For now, Trump is being accused of what seems rather “technical” to non-lawyers. He is not accused of giving money (a total of $130,000 through his then lawyer Michael Cohen) to former porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election to keep her affair a secret and out of the public eye. 2006. He is accused of listing the money as “legal fees” on his 2017 tax returns.

Michael Cohen gave Stormy Daniels $130,000 in 2016, ahead of the election, to buy her silence. After his election to the presidency, Trump returned those $130,000 to Cohen in installments in 2017. However, to justify the payments, he presented them as legal costs (although Cohen in this particular case acted not as a lawyer, but as a man with a suitcase “who made the payment), when he should, according to the indictment, present them as expenses for campaign… Falsifying business documents is a crime in New York State. To be considered a felony, this falsification must be shown to have been done with the intent to cover up other illegal acts, but it is currently unclear what these other illegal acts might be, as the payment of silence money buying someone’s silence in the US is generally … legally.

“Is it a crime to pay money for silence? In most cases, no. Non-disclosure agreements have long been used by companies and individuals to avoid litigation and keep confidential information deemed embarrassing,” writes Michael Rothfeld in the (any but not Trump-friendly) New York Times.

Conservative observers in the US were quick to condemn Trump’s prosecution, calling some of it legally weak, others politically motivated, and some both weak and motivated.

Incidentally, it should be noted that Mr. Alvin Bragg, The Manhattan district attorney who launched the current prosecution of the former president is indeed close to the Democrats, of course, without a hint of malice or bias on his part.

However, even media considered “opponents” of the Republicans, such as Vox (recent articles by Andrew Prokop and Jan Milheiser are revealing), express serious doubts about the final outcome of the case they are engaged in as weak enough.

“Can Alvin Bragg get this unprecedented case against Donald Trump recognized?” asks the Financial Times for its part, stressing, however, that this is a case that “many lawyers are deeply skeptical about.”

legal precedent

However, the case’s legal precedent, which reminds many of Trump’s current “adventure”, also fuels relative skepticism. John Edwards, Democratic Senator from North Carolina from 1999 to 2005 and Democratic presidential candidate in 2008, was accused of using campaign funds to “cover up” an extramarital affair. However, this case was closed “without conviction,” recalls Michael Rothfeld from the pages of the New York Times.

A few days ago, Peter Baker wrote in the New York Times that the Stormy Daniels case is pretty minor compared to all the others Donald Trump has been targeted for in recent years. What are these others? His followers’ invasion of the Capitol in January 2021 (which his critics accuse him of instigating), the 2020 Georgia election (the outcome of which he is said to have tried to…rig), secret presidential documents kept in his mansion in March -a- Lago, Florida, and the financial/tax issues some of his businesses are facing.

Peter Baker argues that Trump’s current prosecution may be just the beginning, paving the way for other prosecutions – possibly more serious ones – in the future, but for now, these are just speculations.

Strong or weak, Trump’s impeachment is now a fact to be used by the entire American political/party spectrum on the way to the next presidential election in 2024.

Trump outperformed in the polls

Trump himself will rush to try to “turn” this legal adventure in his favor, which he is already doing. According to the latest measurements, the 76-year-old appears to be gaining strength in opinion polls (Reuters/Ipsos, Yahoo!News/YouGov), well ahead of his peers by dozens of points. Ron De Sandys for the Republican presidential nomination. At the same time, his campaign team claims to have received donations totaling at least $7 million in the last 24 hours.

How will Trump’s intra-party rivals move in the near future, in any case, will be decisive for the further development of events? Will they step aside, leaving him a field of activity in connection with the presidential election? Does De Sandy’s presidential race have a future? Except for her Marjorie Taylor GreenThere were no other “prominent” Republican congressmen or senators at a pro-Trump rally in New York on Tuesday, although many were quick to criticize the actions of the US Justice Department.