Trump campaign senior adviser Lynne Patton told Newsmax on Monday that the former president's New York business records trial is a "full-frontal assault on American democracy."
"Never before has our argument that this is election interference been more clear than by virtue of the fact that the leading presidential candidate is required by law to appear in person four days a week from 9 to 5 in this court in New York, far away from his home base in Palm Beach, Florida, while his poll-plummeting opponent gets to campaign freely across this country without any hindrance," Patton said on "National Report."
"Obviously, they've been saying the quiet part out loud by bragging about how much money this is diverting from the Trump campaign to cover his legal fees, so it's obvious that that's their intent — to break this man both politically, monetarily, spiritually and, obviously, emotionally."
Appearing in court Monday morning in his signature blue suit and red tie, Trump, 77, became the first former U.S. president to stand trial in a criminal case.
New York state prosecutors accused Trump of falsifying business records to conceal a $130,000 payment during the 2016 presidential campaign to silence porn star Stormy Daniels about an alleged 2006 sexual encounter.
Trump has denied the accusations and pleaded not guilty last year to 34 counts of falsification of business records in the case brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat.
Asked about internal conversations about campaigning, given Trump's court-packed schedule, Patton said. "The more he's attacked, the more driven he is to defend the American people."
"This is a persecution, not a prosecution, and they're going after him because they can't go after you," Patton said. "And, at the end of the day, this is a case that, obviously, was considered a zombie case in the halls of the DA's office. Bragg, his predecessor, the Southern District of New York, the FEC [Federal Election Commission] all refused to bring it forward.
"As you said, this isn't a hush money case; this is a case about bookmaking errors, which we stand by are accurate. At the end of the day, Trump was not responsible for bookkeeping errors. He did not make these entries personally and, in fact, was president of the United States when these entries were made."
Trump has tried unsuccessfully to get the judge in the New York case to step aside, arguing that he has a conflict of interest because his daughter has worked with Democrat politicians.
"This is an outrage," Trump said before entering the courtroom. "This is political persecution."
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Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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