Michael Cohen’s attorney to Trump defenders ahead of arraignment: ‘Just wait’

As former President Donald Trump and his Republican allies continue to dismiss his criminal indictment in Manhattan, New York, Lanny Davis, attorney for Trump’s former personal lawyer and “fixer,” says, “just wait.”

Trump will be arraigned Tuesday afternoon in what Trump’s own legal team described as a “circus-like” event as scores of media outlets are set up outside the Manhattan criminal courthouse.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – APRIL 04: A protester holds a sign while gathering outside the courthouse where former U.S. President Donald Trump will arrive later in the day for his arraignment on April 4, 2023 in New York City. With his indictment, Trump will become the first former U.S. president in history to be charged with a criminal offense. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Once the indictment is unsealed, Davis tells theGrio everyone will soon see the “substantial evidence of his crimes.”

Republicans have been hard at work in trying to change the narrative of the former president’s historic indictment as he is prepared to be read his Miranda rights, pose for a mugshot, and be fingerprinted for crimes associated with a hush-money scheme to silence an adult film star he was alleged to have had an affair with.

For those attacking the merits of the case before the charges against Trump have been made public, Davis said, “They are digging themselves a hole because they don’t know the substantial evidence documented.”

Politics won’t work in the court of law, he said, adding, “Only facts matter.”

Davis also made the argument that if the charges and conviction of his client were serious enough to land Cohen in prison for more than a year, they should be serious enough for Trump.

“They call this crime of paying hush money to prevent information from being made available to the American people right before an election as a serious crime, as a threat to our democracy, and a serious felony,” he explained. 

WASHINGTON, DC – FEBRUARY 26: Attorney Lanny Davis (L) speaks after his client Michael Cohen, former attorney and fixer for President Donald Trump, testified to the Senate Intelligence Committee on Capitol Hill February 26, 2019 in Washington, DC.(Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

Davis added, “Donald Trump had some political motivation in directing Michael Cohen – that’s the word the prosecutors used – to pay the hush money for which he pled guilty as a serious crime.”

The criminal case involves funds considered to be campaign dollars used to pay back Cohen, who confessed to paying Stormy Daniels $130,000 of his own money to keep her silent about the alleged affair with Trump.

Since Trump flew from his Mar-a-Largo home in Florida to his former New York City home at Trump Towers on Monday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams vowed to take action against any violence committed by Trump loyalists or anyone else planning to interfere with procedures as the world watches this unprecedented event. 

Mayor Adams said plainly that there won’t be a Jan. 6 occurrence in his city, telling the press that “rabble-rousers” need to “control“ their “misplaced anger.”

NEW YORK, U.S. – APRIL 03: New York City Mayor Eric Adams (C) and New York City Police Department (NYPD) Commissioner Keechant Sewell (L) make a public safety-related announcement ahead of former US President Donald Trump’s arrival for a court hearing in New York, United States on April 03, 2023. (Photo by Selcuk Acar/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

According to a source, the United States Secret Service, by law, is protecting the former president. Currently, service protections extend to about 39 agents under their security portfolio. Meanwhile, sources at the agency said they are protecting Trump like they would any other person in their protective care. Secret Service is working with other law enforcement agencies to ensure his safety.

Public opinion on Trump’s historic indictment runs across the spectrum. Karl Rove, a Republican and former senior advisor to then-President George W. Bush, said an indictment could make Trump a political martyr. Meanwhile, Democrats like the former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder have said publicly that “no one is above the law.”

On Tuesday, more people are expected to protest in support of Trump, including U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-GA. The Republican congresswoman, and Trump ally, is expected to be the ringleader of a group of supporters headed in New York City in support of the 45th president of the United States. 

Mayor Adams sent a specific message to Rep. Greene during a Monday press conference: “Be on your best behavior.” 

Prominent Republicans have made this more about the actions of Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney who has led the prosecution against Trump. Bragg, a Black man, has reportedly brought up to 30 charges against the former president. 

MANHATTAN, NY – MARCH 22: Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg leaves at the Manhattan District Attorney’s office in New York on March 22, 2023. (Photo by Jeenah Moon for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Trump supporters have argued that Bragg’s prosecution of Trump is personal rather than about the rule of law. Even Trump’s potential opponent in the 2024 Republican presidential primary, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, has slammed Bragg and the merits of the case.

Davis did not mince words when responding to criticisms from DeSantis, who described the case against Trump as a misdemeanor that should not rise to felony status.

”What do you actually know about the facts? What do you actually know about what’s in the indictment?” asked Davis. 

GARDEN CITY, NEW YORK – APRIL 1: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis gives a political speech at the Cradle of Aviation Museum, April 1, 2023 in Garden City, New York. (Photo by Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images)

Davis said of Governor DeSantis and other Trump defenders like former Vice President Mike Pence: “Every one of them is digging themselves a hole because they don’t know the substantial evidence – documented [and] corroborated.”

As Trump faces his fate in Manhattan, other legal troubles loom over his head. Based on newly released evidence in a separate federal investigation into Trump’s possession of classified documents, the former president could face charges related to obstruction of justice. 

Trump’s Mar-a-Largo home was infamously searched by FBI agents last year in an attempt to retrieve documents he apparently took from his time inside the White House. Reports indicate that Secret Service agents who are a part of his detail have been asked to testify to federal investigators.

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