Former President Donald Trump was officially arrested and arraigned on Tuesday in New York.
Trump has been officially indicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to his alleged role in hush money payments to multiple women during his 2016 presidential campaign.
Trump pled not guilty and denies that he had affairs with the two women who allegedly received the payments.
One of the more interesting tidbits to come out of the high-profile legal situation was Judge Juan Merchan warning the former President to “refrain from social media posts that could foment unrest, after messages critical of [the] prosecutor.”
NEW YORK (AP) — Judge warns Trump to refrain from social media posts that could foment unrest, after messages critical of prosecutor.
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) April 4, 2023
One of the social media posts that Merchan may have been referencing was a March 23 Truth Social post which included an article using an image of the former president holding a baseball bat next to a photo of District Attorney Alvin Bragg. This was followed by another post in which Trump warned of the potential for “death and destruction” should he be criminally charged.
While the image is a composite of two different photos, one of Trump with the bat and one of Bragg’s head, it seems relatively clear to many that there was at least the implication of violence, especially given the context and surrounding social media messages.
After the arraignment on Tuesday, Trump’s lawyer Joe Tacopina denied that the image of the former President swinging a baseball bat at Alvin Bragg’s head was meant to be construed as a threat.
Trump Attorney Joe Tacopina denies Trump posted a picture of him swinging a baseball bat at Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg’s head:
“That was a picture of him showing off an American-made bat.” pic.twitter.com/fdARa4h9Fq
— The Recount (@therecount) April 4, 2023
“That picture was not him swinging a baseball bat,” said Tacopina. “If you want to distort the facts, go right ahead. He wasn’t swinging a baseball bat at anyone’s head. That was a picture of him showing off an American-made bat.”
That’s some good lawyering right there. Lionel Hutz would be proud.
