Former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to 34 counts of falsifying business records and conspiracy in the first-ever criminal arraignment of a former U.S. president.
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The charges are related to a hush money payment probe that was initiated due to a payment his former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen made to former adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election.
Trump denies the claim by Daniels and denies wrongdoing related to the $130,000 payment Cohen gave her to keep quiet about the alleged tryst.
The historic court proceedings make Trump the first ex-president to face criminal charges. Trump also faces separate criminal investigations in Georgia and at the federal level. Cameras were barred from taking photos or video during the arraignment after it got underway.
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The hearing on charges related to the hush money payment probe started around 2:30 p.m. ET, and Trump left for the courthouse from Trump Tower after 1 p.m. ET on Tuesday, waving to cameras before he departed in a motorcade for his surrender and arraignment.
Trump flew to New York on Monday from his Florida residence. He was indicted Thursday on charges related to the hush money payment probe. Trump is due to appear before acting New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan at 2:15 p.m. ET.
News outlets pushed for the judge to allow camera access during the hearing, an effort Trump’s lawyers have opposed and which Merchan denied. Bragg will hold a news conference following the arraignment. The ex-president, meanwhile, plans to travel back to his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida after the hearing and deliver remarks there.
The unprecedented arraignment and indictment of the former president comes after Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg investigated Trump for hush money payments made leading up to the 2016 presidential election.
These include the $130,000 payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels and the $150,000 payment made to former Playboy model Karen McDougal. Both women were paid for their silence on alleged affairs with Trump, affairs Trump has repeatedly denied.
Those payments had been investigated by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York and by the Federal Election Commission.
Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York opted out of charging Trump related to the Daniels payment in 2019. The Federal Election Commission also tossed its investigation into the matter in 2021.
The former president was not handcuffed during his arraignment after making arrangements with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
Law enforcement agencies, including the U.S. Secret Service, New York Police Department, FBI, New York State court officers and the DA’s office, met Friday afternoon to finalize details about the logistics and security of Trump.
Trump has slammed the DA’s investigation and the indictment as “political persecution and election interference at the highest level in history.”
He claimed that the Democrats have lied, cheated, and stolen in their obsession with trying to “Get Trump.”
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