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‘Insult To Our Country,’ Trump Criticises Criminal Charges Against Him

Published

2 years ago

April 5, 2023

Former US President Donald Trump offered a full-throated defense of his conduct Tuesday in his first public remarks since being charged over hush money payments to a porn star, blasting the criminal prosecution as “an insult to our country.”

Hours earlier the 76-year-old former US president pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts in a dramatic hearing in New York that transfixed the nation — and began the countdown to the first ever criminal trial of an American president.

“I never thought anything like this could happen in America — never thought it could happen,” Trump told an audience of several hundred donors, political allies and other supporters after returning to Mar-a-Lago, his beachfront mansion in southern Florida.

“The only crime that I’ve committed is to fearlessly defend our nation from those who seek to destroy it… It’s an insult to our country.”

Trump — the frontrunner in the race for the 2024 Republican nomination — said from a stage festooned with American flags in an opulent gold-and-cream ballroom that “radical left” prosecutors were out to get him “at any cost.”

The bizarrely celebratory mood in the room seemed at odds with the gravity of the day’s events in Manhattan, with Trump reprising the applause lines that his supporters hear regularly at his rallies — and being rewarded with the same boisterous cheers and clapping.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is prosecuting Trump for cooking his company’s books to hide payments he arranged for adult film actress Stormy Daniels days before the 2016 election, to cover up an alleged sexual encounter a decade earlier.

Trump’s former chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg is serving a five-month jail term for the same charge of falsifying business records.

Manhattan prosecutors say Trump “repeatedly and fraudulently falsified New York business records to conceal criminal conduct that hid damaging information from the voting public during the 2016 presidential election.”

A “statement of facts” released alongside the indictment included details of hush money payments to Daniels, Playboy model Karen McDougal and a former Trump Tower doorman claiming to have a story about a child Trump had out of wedlock.

Daniels was paid $130,000 by former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, while McDougal and the doorman got $150,000 and $30,000 respectively from AMI, the publishers of supermarket tabloid the National Enquirer.

Bragg alleges that Trump and his allies “also took steps that mischaracterized, for tax purposes, the true nature of the payments.”

Trump and his lawyers have accused Bragg of over-reaching in his characterization of the alleged misconduct.

The one-time reality TV star had sent a fundraising email even before flying back to Florida, saying that since the news of his indictment broke, his campaign had raised over $10 million.

“While we are living through the darkest hours of American history, I can say that at least for this moment right now, I am in great spirits,” Trump said.

The twice-impeached Republican is the first sitting or former American president to be criminally indicted.

Earlier in the Manhattan courtroom, he answered “not guilty” to all charges in a clear voice, sitting with hunched shoulders and at times looking annoyed but mostly listening cooperatively.

Judge Juan Merchan said a trial could potentially start as soon as January — a month before the presidential primaries kick off — although Trump’s lawyers have indicated they would want it pushed back to next spring.

In a spectacle that played out on live television — with rival protesters rallying outside — the hearing marked a watershed moment for the US criminal and political system.

A crowd of hundreds had gathered, with pro-Trump protesters — sporting “MAGA” hats and attire emblazoned with the American flag — yelling slurs at their opponents.

Trump for years rejoiced in his reputation as a playboy but has always denied the tryst with Daniels, which would have occurred just after his third wife Melania gave birth.

In a rambling, conspiracy theory laden tirade to his supporters, he described Merchan as a “Trump-hating judge” and denounced Bragg for what he called “massive election interference at a scale never seen before in our country.”

But he spent much of his speech mocking several more serious investigations he faces, repeating previously-debunked allegations about being treated differently from previous presidents.

They include his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state of Georgia, his alleged mishandling of classified documents taken from the White House and his involvement in the storming of the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.

AFP

News

EFCC Orders Arrest Of Dismissed Officer On Lege Miami’s Show

Published

2 hours ago

August 25, 2025

Editor

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has condemned the actions of one of its former staff, Olakunle Alex Folarin, who was recently spotted participating in a matchmaking programme on social media platforms hosted by popular entertainer Lege Miami.

The agency has ordered his immediate arrest for retaining official EFCC property, including an identity card, following his dismissal for certificate forgery.

The anti-graft agency, in a statement on its official X handle on Monday, said Folarin served as a driver at the EFCC’s Ibadan Zonal Directorate.

He was, however, dismissed after investigations confirmed he had forged his academic credentials.

It said, “The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, condemned in the strongest terms, the involvement of one of its former staff, Olakunle Alex Folarin, in a matchmaking programme running on Lege Miami social media platforms.”

“Folarin was recently dismissed from the Commission for certificate forgery. He was a driver at the Ibadan Zonal Directorate of the EFCC.”

The statement said EFCC Executive Chairma,n Mr. Ola Olukoyede, has ordered Folarin to be arrested and emphasised that Folarin’s actions should not be associated with the commission.

“The Executive Chairman of the EFCC, Mr. Ola Olukoyede, has ordered his arrest for being in possession of some Commission’s properties, including an identity card, which he should have handed over upon being dismissed from the EFCC.

“The public is advised against associating Folarin’s post-dismissal conduct with the EFCC,” the statement concluded.

News

NERC Transfers Regulation Of Electricity Market To Bayelsa

Published

2 hours ago

August 25, 2025

Editor

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission has transferred regulatory oversight of the electricity market in Bayelsa State to the Bayelsa Electricity Regulatory Agency.

In a notice on its social media handles on Monday, the commission said this was in compliance with the amended 1999 Constitution and the Electricity Act 2023.

“In compliance with the amended Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Electricity Act 2023 (Amended), the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission has issued an order to transfer regulatory oversight of the electricity market in Bayelsa State from the Commission to the Bayelsa State Electricity Regulatory Agency,” the commission said.

Recall that with the Electricity Act 2023, the commission retains the role as a central regulator with regulatory oversight on the interstate/international generation, transmission, supply, trading, and system operations.

The Act also mandates any state that intends to establish and regulate intrastate electricity markets to deliver a formal notification of its processes and requests NERC to transfer regulatory authority over electricity operations in the state to the state regulator.

The transfer order by NERC directed Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company Plc to incorporate a subsidiary distribution company to assume responsibilities for intrastate supply and distribution of electricity in Bayelsa State from PHED.

PHED was also directed to complete the incorporation of PHED SubCo within 60 days from August 21, 2025.

“The subcompany shall apply for and obtain a licence for the intrastate supply and distribution of electricity from BYERA, among other directives,” the commission said.

It concluded that all transfers envisaged by the order shall be completed by February 20, 2026.

With this order, Bayelsa has joined states like Lagos, Imo, Ogun, Ondo, Ekiti, Enugu, Niger, Edo, Oyo and Plateau, which have got the power to regulate electricity markets.

The state can now generate, transmit, and distribute electricity while issuing licences to investors within the value chain.

News

Things To Know As INEC Begins Physical Voter Registration Monday

Published

2 hours ago

August 25, 2025

Editor

The Independent National Electoral Commission commenced the physical, in-person phase of its 2025 Continuous Voter Registration exercise across Nigeria today, Monday, August 25.

This follows the online pre-registration that commenced on August 18, 2025.

In an update on its X handle on Monday, the commission provided details of the schedule, locations, and eligibility of voters.

INEC said in-person registration will run Monday to Friday from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm, and urged eligible Nigerians to complete their registration at INEC state or local government offices in their area.

The commission said those eligible to register or update their details include:

New voters aged 18 and above who have not registered before.

Holders needing to replace lost or damaged Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs).

Voters seeking to transfer their registration to a new location.

People who need to update or correct their voter information (name, address, etc.).

The electoral umpire asked registrants who completed online pre-registration to proceed to their INEC State Head Office or LGA office to finalise the process.

The commission also published a list of registration centres on its official portal.