Local criminal defense attorney speaks on Trump indictment

MID-MICHIGAN (WNEM) – A Manhattan grand jury voted to indict former president Donald Trump on Thursday, making him the first former president to face criminal charges.

“Historic. One hundred percent historic. This is probably the biggest legal news, certainly of this century probably in the last two centuries,” criminal defense attorney Nicholas Robinson said.

Trump was indicted over reported “hush money” payments during his 2016 presidential campaign.

Robinson has served the Flint community for more than a decade, defending big-time criminals, people with misdemeanors, and everything in between. He said even though the indictment against a former president breaks historic norms, he would be surprised if it didn’t ultimately end up in front of a jury.

“And as far as this ending up in front of a jury, this has everything that the jury would love. We have a former president, we have payoffs, hush money, porn stars. This has everything that a jury would be dying to hear,” Robinson said.

He said that if he were advising Trump, he would tell him to avoid social media, Trump’s preferred way of communicating with his followers.

“Because anything that you say can and will be used against you. And I counsel all my clients, make no statement, make no statement to anybody. If you’re talking on the phone, don’t talk about your case, if you’re talking to a reporter, don’t talk about your case,” Robinson said. “So, I think that might be something that’s going to be very challenging for Donald Trump’s lawyers.”

This is the first indictment out of the four investigations surrounding Trump. Robinson said both sides of this case are in for a ride.

“I think that the case against Donald Trump is going to present challenges for everybody. It’s going to present challenges for the prosecution, it’s going to present challenges for his defense team. I think that both sides are going to be in for a fight,” Robinson said.

Even though the indictment does not disqualify Trump from seeking re-election, Robinson said neither would a possible conviction.

“Technically he is still eligible to run for president and could serve as President of the United States of America while he’s being charged with a crime or even after he’s been convicted of a felony,” Robinson said.

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