NEW YORK — Former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty on Tuesday after being indicted by a Manhattan grand jury, making him the first sitting president or former U.S. president in history to be criminally indicted.
Trump pleaded not guilty Tuesday in a Manhattan courtroom to dozens of counts of falsifying business documents and conspiracy for his alleged role in making silent payments to two women near the end of his presidential campaign. of 2016 against a former president, was revealed in a brief proceeding before Judge Juan Merchan.
A Manhattan grand jury returned a 34-count indictment on Thursday in the case of secret payments Trump allegedly authorized his former attorney and ally, Michael Cohen, to make to porn star Stormy Daniels during his 2016 presidential campaign to remain silent about an alleged extramarital affair. affair.
Trump and his defense team have repeatedly and loudly denied any wrongdoing.
Donald Trump waved to a crowd of people, some denouncing his arrest, others cheering, as he arrived at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office on Tuesday, where he went ahead of a historic moment in the courtroom that will see him become the first president of the United States. The United States criminally charged. .
The former president posted a message to his Truth Social account as his motorcade left Trump Tower, writing, “Heading to Lower Manhattan, to the courthouse. It looks so SURREAL – WOW they’re gonna ARREST me. Can they? II don’t think that’s happening in the US. MAGA!”
Details of the indictment, including whether it may include felony charges, have remained sealed since the grand jury vote late last week, although sources familiar with the matter say it includes approximately 30 charges related to document fraud related to the secret money investigation involving payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016.
Trump, who has called the district attorney’s investigation a “witch hunt” and called for the impeachment of Alvin Bragg, has consistently denied any wrongdoing. On Monday evening, the judge assigned to her case, Judge Juan Merchan, ruled that video cameras would not be allowed inside the courthouse and that, while phones and laptops are fine, they cannot be used, meaning the public will have to wait until after the arraignment, which is expected to be brief, to learn the ramifications.
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE HEARING?
Trump was arraigned on the 15th floor, part 59 of the Manhattan Criminal Court building. This is the same courtroom where Harvey Weinstein was tried and convicted of rape and sexual assault in February 2020.
The room was directly across the hall from where Trump Corp and Trump Payroll Corp were convicted in December 2022 of criminal tax evasion, conspiracy and falsifying business records. Attorney Susan Necheles has defended the Trump Organization in the case and is expected to appear alongside Trump when he is arraigned.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg did not say whether he plans to seek jail time if convicted. It is not entirely clear how quickly the process will proceed, given that there is no precedent. It’s unlikely the former president could face some of the lawsuits that any other New York defendant would. He has kept his Secret Service details with him, and they must protect him for as long as he chooses to keep them by his side.
PROTESTS IN NEW YORK
Hundreds of people, from supporters to protesters, took to the streets outside the Manhattan Courthouse and Trump Tower in Midtown, where New York police erected barricades last week.
Crowds of onlookers overwhelmed some of the former president’s most vocal supporters Tuesday morning outside the Manhattan courthouse where Donald Trump is due to appear hours later for his afternoon arraignment.
A morning “rally for Trump” in support of the former president was expected to draw numbers including keynote speaker Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. The Republican lawmaker arrived amid the chaotic crowd of pro and anti-Trump supporters where she delivered brief remarks.
But in the end, it didn’t go so well. Shouting through a small portable megaphone, Greene’s message to Trump supporters was essentially silenced by the disorder of the crowds and media gathered outside. She left a few minutes later.
The controversial Republican got a brief endorsement from Rep. George Santos, who appeared amid the chaos in court half an hour before the rally’s official start time. He left around 10 a.m. with no intention of returning. During his brief appearance, the Long Island politician slammed Bragg and voiced his support for Trump.
Some anti-Trump protesters were also present, unfurling a large banner reading “Trump lies all the time.” A brief scuffle broke out between pro and anti-Trump supporters, with the former tearing up a banner outside the courthouse. Our sister network NBC News reports that the police intervened and separated the groups.
TRUMP DENIES EVERYTHING
Trump’s team denied any wrongdoing during the investigation. His lawyer, Joseph Tacopina, said last Thursday that the former president had committed no crime and pledged to “vigorously fight this political accusation in court”.
Tacopina accused prosecutors of “bending the laws” in an attempt to bring down the former president. He described Trump as a victim of extortion who had to pay because the allegations were going to embarrass him “regardless of the campaign.”
In a lengthy statement in which he again denied the allegations, Trump echoed his lawyers’ claims the previous Thursday, calling the case “the highest level of political persecution and election interference in history.”
“Democrats lied, cheat and stole in their obsession with trying to ‘get Trump,’ but now they’ve done the unthinkable: indict a totally innocent person in an act of blatant election interference,” the statement said. Trump. “The Democrats have cheated countless times over the decades, including spying on my campaign, but using our justice system as a weapon to punish a political opponent, who happens to be the President of the United States and by far the leading Republican presidential candidate, has never happened before.
As he always has in the past, Trump again called the investigation a “witch hunt.” He continued to lash out at Bragg, calling him “embarrassing…doing Joe Biden’s dirty work, ignoring the murders, robberies and assaults he should be focusing on.”
IMPEACHMENT AND PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS
The events could have significant implications for the 2024 presidential election.
Trump, 76, has insisted he will continue to seek the Republican nomination even if the jury votes for impeachment.
Legally, an indictment does not prevent you from presenting yourself. Prosecutors haven’t said whether they plan to seek jail time if convicted, though that also wouldn’t stop Trump from running for president or winning next year.
For a man whose presidency has been defined by one erased ruler after another, impeachment sets up another unprecedented spectacle. Here’s a rundown of the main charges in the indictment and Trump’s response.
TRUMP’S LEGAL PROBLEMS BEYOND MANHATTAN
Trump’s impeachment marks an extraordinary development after years of investigations into his business, political and personal dealings.
Even as Trump continues his latest White House campaign, there’s no doubt impeachment is fueling his longtime critics.
In addition to the secret money investigation in New York, Trump faces criminal investigations in Atlanta and Washington for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.
A Justice Department special counsel also presented evidence before a grand jury investigating Trump’s possession of hundreds of classified documents at his Florida estate.
It’s unclear when these investigations will end or if they could lead to criminal charges, but they will continue regardless of what happens in New York, underscoring the current severity — and wide geographic reach — of the legal challenges facing the former president faces.