Donald Trump Case: Mexico President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador Slams Felony Charges
Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has reacted to the criminal charges filed against former U.S. President Donald Trump.
According to the Associated Press, the Mexican president did not agree with the charges filed against Trump, believing they were brought for political reasons at the time of the electoral campaign.
Trump was charged on Tuesday with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in a case over allegations that he orchestrated the hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels before he ran for the presidency in 2016.
Trump, who is currently campaigning to reclaim the presidency in the 2024 election, has pleaded not guilty.
In a press briefing on Wednesday, Lopez Obrador said the charges filed against Trump exhibited "the degradation of due respect for the law."
"I don't agree with what they are doing to former President Trump. I do not know if crimes were committed. It's not my place," Lopez Obrador noted.
"Supposedly legal, judicial issues should not be used for political, electoral purposes. Don't make up crimes to affect adversaries," he added.
As he compared Trump's case and the December impeachment and imprisonment of former Peruvian President Pedro Castillo for attempting to dissolve Congress, Lopez Obrador said it "should be the people who decide," Reuters reported.
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Mexico President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador Had Strangely Warm Relationship With Donald Trump
Despite Donald Trump's frequent criticisms of Mexico and migrants and his border wall plans separating the two countries, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador had an oddly warm relationship with the former U.S. president.
Lopez Obrador had fewer public disputes with Trump than with current U.S. President Joe Biden. Analysts claim that Trump and Lopez Obrador share a substantially transactional view of politics, wherein making an agreement and upholding it is highly valued.
Once, the Mexican president agreed with Trump to help retain migrants at the southwest border. And after that, the former U.S. president largely refrained from commenting on Mexico's corruption, human rights, and trade dispute issues.
Lopez Obrador is notably sensitive to outside criticism regarding these matters. Last November, the Mexican president even publicly called for Twitter to unban Trump's account.
Donald Trump Case: Ex-President Pleads Not Guilty
Donald Trump was arraigned in New York City on Tuesday afternoon, a few hours after he surrendered to the Manhattan District Attorney's Office.
During his arraignment, Trump heard the charges against him for the first time before he pleaded not guilty to 34 felony criminal charges of falsifying business records.
Even though the arraignment was routine, this case is poised to linger over Trump's 2024 presidential campaign as he battles the charges in court.
According to court documents, the former U.S. president allegedly "employed a 'catch and kill' scheme to identify, purchase, and bury negative information about him and boost his electoral prospects."
Trump also "went to great lengths to hide this conduct, causing dozens of false entries in business records to conceal criminal activity, including attempts to violate state and federal election laws."
Upon arriving home in Florida on Tuesday night, Trump said in a speech that he "never thought anything like this could happen in America."
He added: "The only crime that I have committed is to fearlessly defend our nation from those who seek to destroy it."
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This article is owned by Latin Post.
Written by: Bert Hoover
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