American Tax Officer

Chapter 850: Chapter 426: The Silent Trial

“Mr. President, I feel we can’t just let him do as he pleases any longer,” Wylder said, making Payden feel even more troubled. “If this continues, disaster will eventually befall us.”

Currently, David’s reputation in America is too high, and his manner of handling matters can essentially be described as ruthlessly aggressive.

He doesn’t even pretend to respect the President.

If a conflict truly occurred between them, it wouldn’t be surprising if David directly took action against him.

Just like the last time, to coerce him into signing the Offshore Tax Avoidance Bill, David had approached the Vice President and reached some agreement to pressure him.

No, preparations must be made for this!

“Come back, Wylder. We should really look into this matter thoroughly!”

“I’ll take a charter flight back.”

“…”

Two days later, at 77 Madison Avenue, here lies the exclusive courthouse of the Internal Revenue Service in New York.

At this moment, a host of media reporters had already arrived at the scene.

Several well-known business and political figures, who had been invited to attend as observers, also arrived one after another.

“Ladies and gentlemen, good morning. Today, the Internal Revenue Service is set to prosecute Governor Derick, Mayor Andre, Director Kang Gua, and others. This matter has been nerve-wracking for all of America over the past few days. Let’s see what will happen next.”

Two days prior, news suddenly broke in New York about the trial targeting officials like Governor Derick and Mayor Andre, which was confirmed by the Internal Revenue Service the next day.

And today, the trial was to take place.

Everyone was eager to find out the result.

“Chief Inspector, Harold, Cornell—each of these guys found excuses to avoid coming.”

In the courthouse’s lounge, Manson approached David and spoke.

“Hmm?”

A cold light flashed in David’s eyes.

There are two Senators and thirty-one Congressmen in New York State.

Currently, the leading candidates for the two senatorial positions, Langman and Stevenson Eve, were almost secured by him. That left only the Congressmen.

He had intended to invite them here, using the trial for a bit of intimidation before discussing the upcoming midterm elections.

But to his surprise, every one of them feigned ignorance and didn’t show up—an outright disrespect, indeed!

Nevertheless, from their perspective, their actions were understandable; they were not overtly antagonistic like Langman and Stevenson.

But being influential members within New York State, they inevitably had intricate ties with the Freemasonry Group.

David was now openly trying to imprison members of their camp, displaying a clear message to instill fear; it was no wonder these people weren’t eager to support the cause.

Moreover, another point was that if David could bring these people to trial, he might as well bring them, too. Their absence out of fear was natural!

Let it be; if they didn’t want to attend, so be it.

David was already in New York. Could they still hide from him?

Once he dealt with Derick and the others, he would certainly ‘take care’ of them!

Shelving his thoughts, David walked out of the lounge and headed towards the nearby judge’s office, knocking and entering.

At this moment, about 40-year-old Alica was inside. Upon seeing him enter, she immediately said,”Is everything prepared on your end, Chief Inspector David?”

“Everything is ready on my side, but sorry for disturbing your vacation, Judge Alica.”

Today was actually Judge Alica’s day off, but because David had scheduled the trial for today, she had to come back.

“It’s no trouble at all; I was quite eager for a case that has the whole nation’s attention.”

For such a high-profile case, she wouldn’t care if she was on vacation or even maternity leave; she would have crawled from the hospital to participate.

“Alright, Judge Alica, the trial is about to start. Let’s go over the procedure for a bit.”

“Okay.”

“…”

Twenty minutes later, it was precisely 10 AM.

By now, virtually all of the invited attendees had arrived in the court’s spectator seats.

Additionally, a few major media outlets that had been allowed were also present to broadcast live from the scene.

“Hello everyone, this is BBC. We have now entered the courthouse, and the trial against Governor Derick, Mayor Andre, Director Kang Gua, and others is about to start. Let’s see if the Internal Revenue Service can secure a conviction…”

Under the media’s coverage, David and Alica also stepped into the scene.

“All rise!”

Alica, dressed in her judicial robes, walked from the judicial passage to her seat and said,”Please be seated, bring out the accused!”

As the statement ended, Governor Derick, Mayor Andre, and Director Kang Gua, along with a dozen officials from New York State, were brought forth.

What intrigued many was that these individuals appeared calm, seemingly unaffected by the stigma of being defendants.

Furthermore, interestingly, after these people arrived, no defense attorneys seemed to be making an appearance.

Although the Internal Revenue Service’s trials were dominant, the basic right to have an attorney was still afforded to the accused.

Now, with no defense attorneys appearing, there was only one explanation: they had deliberately chosen to do so!