Former President Donald Trump surrendered to authorities in New York state Tuesday and pleaded not guilty to 34 felony charges regarding hush money payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels in the waining days of the 2016 Presidential campaign. The charges center on the allegation Trump falsified internal business records at his private company. He did this while trying to cover up efforts to illegally influence the 2016 election. Trump pleaded not guilty to all the charges and following being booked, return to his home at his private estate at Mar-a-Lago. South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem tweeted out the prosecution of Trump is political, while Senator Mike Rounds called the indictments a soap opera.
U.S. Senator Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) issued the following statement on the indictment of the former president:
“Regardless of your political position or perspective, this prosecution should concern everyone. The integrity of our justice system has been called into question because of a politically-motivated district attorney who is bringing charges that the Department of Justice declined to prosecute. The indictment includes 34 counts of falsifying business records for allegations of activity that occurred more than six years ago. Despite the fact these charges are normally misdemeanor charges, the district attorney, in his indictment, is attempting to bootstrap multiple underlying crimes in order to elevate these charges to a felony level. While everyone, including the former president, is subject to the laws of this country, no one should be singled out for political purposes. Unfortunately, this soap opera of a prosecution appears to be just that.”
