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Trump to US judge: You’re Democrat’s stooge, you can’t stop me
There seemed no letup in the interpretation Donald Trump, former President of the United State (POTUS), currently making a comeback bid to the White House is giving to his ongoing trial at court in New York, one of the several he is presently facing since he left government about three years ago, following his defeat by incumbent, Joe Biden.
Trump, who is sure to emerge the candidate of the Republican Party in next year’s presidential election, all but accused Arthur Engoron the New York judge handling his civil fraud case of fronting for the Democratic Party to stop him from returning as President, by “issuing fraudulent rulings,” in the same manner he equally took on Letitia James, New York State Attorney General (AG), who instituted the case as a “political hack.”
But both Engoron and James promptly pushed back by brushing the allegation, demanding that the former President was playing to the gallery and address the matter in question, insisting that the facts of the matter in issue spoke for themselves and therefore could not be ensconced in theatrics.
Reports say that though Trump, the first President in more than 100 years to stand a court trial, since the appearance of Theodore Roosevelt, in a 1915 libel suit, might not be going to prison, he and his sons, could lose control over the family’s vast business empire as the case in question centred on them cooking the books to raise the profile of the company to obtain bank loans.
“He called me a fraud and he did not know anything about me. This is political witchhunt,” Trump was quoted as saying of Engoron during the trial, with the judge, in reply, asking him to address the matter directed at him by simply answering the questions, adding: “This is not a political rally. Please, just answer the questions, no speeches.”
Engoron, even cautioned Christopher Kise, lawyer to the former President, who had an American flag on the lapel of his dark-blue suit to control him, as he continued in his confrontational attitude, as he called the trial “very unfair and crazy” adding that it was brought by Democrats “coming after me from 15 different sides,” reports say.
Regarding the trial itself, where his Don Jr. his eldest son and Eric and other executives of the Trump Organisation are being accused of exaggerating the value of their real estate assets by billions of dollars to obtain more favorable bank loans and insurance terms, the former POTUS pooh-poohed the allegation describing company’s claims in the financial statement as very conservative.
“They were not really documents that the banks paid much attention to. The value of the Trump brand was not taken into account in the valuations of my assets. I became President because of my brand,” Trump told Kevin Wallace, a lawyer for the New York Attorney General’s office, who was interrogating him under oath.
Trump said to have repeatedly attacked James, as “racist,” also referred to Engoron, as “unhinged” and a “Trump-hating radical left, Democrat operative,” comments, said to have earned $15,000 in fines from Engoron for violating a partial gag order imposed after he bashed the judge’s clerk on social media.
On his part, James, who seemed to have preempted the former President’s combatic posture, was quoted as telling reporters that he had “consistently misrepresented and inflated the value of his assets,” adding: “Before he takes the stand, I am certain that he will engage in name-calling and taunts and race-baiting and call this a witch hunt. But at the end of the day, the only thing that matters are the facts and the numbers. And numbers, my friends, don’t lie.”
The current case is one in the many of legal battles the former POTUS, who has been impeached twice by the US congress, but whose career was saved from the final death-knell by the skin of his teeth has maintained that they are all efforts by the Democrats led by Biden, to stop him from reclaiming the presidency, which he believed was fraudulently snatched from him in the 2020 election, he insists he won.
Hours after Mohammed Hayatu-Deen did, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, on Tuesday, also flatly rejected the outcome of the presidential primaries, of the African Democratic Congress, alleging widespread voter disenfranchisement and electoral malpractice.
Amaechi former Minister of Transportation and former Governor of Rivers State, described the announced results as “concocted,” insisting that the process failed to meet the standards of transparency and fairness earlier promised by the party.
He said in a statement: “I unequivocally reject the concocted results being announced,” Amaechi stated.
He said he had previously maintained that he would only accept the outcome of the primaries if the process was free, fair and transparent, stressing that the exercise did not reflect the democratic values the ADC claimed to represent.
“I will not accept results from a process that does not reflect the values that the ADC had pledged to uphold, to rescue Nigerians from the impunity and gross mismanagement that our country is currently facing in the hands of the ruling party,” he said.
Amaechi alleged that a significant number of party members were denied the opportunity to vote during the exercise.
“There’s no way that about eighty percent of members of the party were not allowed to vote, and you expect me to accept such results,” he stated.
The former Rivers State governor questioned the moral basis of the ADC criticising the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over alleged electoral malpractice while allegedly engaging in similar conduct internally.
“A party that criticizes the ruling APC and INEC for vote buying, rigging and writing of results, cannot be engaged in vote buying, writing of results, and other electoral malpractices that leads to the disenfranchisement of voters who are party members. This is not acceptable!” he declared.
Amaechi said the ADC was envisioned as a platform to amplify the voices of ordinary Nigerians and provide credible political alternatives irrespective of ethnicity, religion or social background.
His rejection of the outcome is expected to deepen tensions within the opposition party following the conclusion of its presidential primary election.
“These timeless virtues of devotion, selflessness, and submission to divine will are values our nation desperately needs today,” were the exact words with which Godswill Akpabio, attempted to rouse Nigerians to the ethos of unquestionable faith and service to the country.
Akpabio, Chairman of the National Assembly, who drew example from Prophet Ibrahim, admonished Nigerians to emulate his unwavering faith, obedience, and willingness to sacrifice for the sake of Almighty Allah.
The Senate President, who conveyed his sentiments via a statement by Eseme Eyiboh, also used the specifically hail President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, his vice, Kashim Shettima and Muslim faithful in Nigeria and around the world as they celebrate Eid El Kabir.
Stressing that the occasion called for prayer and sober reflection on the theme of sacrifice, he added: “This sacred occasion reminds us of Prophet Ibrahim’s unwavering faith, obedience, and willingness to sacrifice for the sake of Almighty Allah.
“To our dear President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, his vice, Senator Kashim Shettima and Muslim brothers and sisters, I felicitate with them on behalf of my family, constituents and the Senate on this blessed Eid. May the lessons of sacrifice, compassion, and generosity that define this season strengthen your faith and bring peace to your homes.
“As you share with the less privileged and extend love to neighbours of all faiths, you embody the true spirit of Nigeria. To all Nigerians, I urge us to use this solemn period to pray fervently for peace, security, and prosperity in our land. Let us pray for our troops in the frontlines, for farmers to return safely to their fields, and for unity to prevail over division in our Nation.
“Eid El Kabir also calls us to deep reflection on the future of our country. Just as Prophet Ibrahim was tested, Nigeria is in a season of testing. The sacrifices we make today in patience, in tolerance and in choosing hope over despair will determine the Nigeria our children inherit.
“The Renewed Hope Agenda of this administration, supported by the National Assembly, is anchored on that same principle: that meaningful progress often requires collective sacrifice.
“May Almighty Allah accept your prayers and sacrifices. May He heal our land, guide our leaders, and bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Barka da Sallah. Eid Mubarak.”
“I will not be attending the announcement of the ADC Presidential Election Results today. I am concerned by reports from across the country of widespread vote rigging, some of which I myself observed, and will therefore be taking advice on my next steps.”
These were the exact words of Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, one of the presidential aspirants of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), with which he cast a slur on the ongoing presidential primaries of the party, hinging his position on reports of fraud trailing the exercise.
Hayatu-Deen, a second timer in the search for the nation’s number one job, ran against Atiku Abubakar, Nigeria’s former Vice President and Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, former Minister of Transportation.
In a statement on his assessment of the exercise which began on Monday, the renowned economist Chairman of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), used his X platform to convey his dissatisfaction with the process.
The ADC which said the collation for the exercise would take place in Abuja had urged aspirants, party leaders, delegates, and members to conduct themselves peacefully and uphold party unity.
Bolaji Abdullahi, its spokesman, who described the exercise as a defining moment for both the ADC and Nigerians seeking a credible political alternative, maintained that it remained committed to internal democracy and a transparent leadership selection process.
“The ADC remains proud to stand today as the only truly democratic party in Nigeria because it is the only political party whose choice of presidential candidate is determined through open primaries,” he said adding that the conduct of aspirants and party members during the exercise would reflect the leadership culture the ADC seeks to promote.
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