NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, according to several news reports.
He entered the plea Tuesday during a brief arraignment in a lower Manhattan courtroom as prosecutors unsealed a grand jury indictment.
The charges stem from a hush money payment to a porn actor during Trump’s 2016 campaign.
A stone-faced Trump entered the courtroom shortly before 2:30 p.m. without saying anything.
Trump himself described the experience as “SURREAL” as he traveled from Trump Tower to a lower Manhattan courtroom, where he was to face a judge as the first former president in American history to be criminally prosecuted.
“Heading to Lower Manhattan, the Courthouse,” the voluble ex-president posted on his Truth Social platform. “Seems so SURREAL — WOW, they are going to ARREST ME. Can’t believe this is happening in America. MAGA!”
The arraignment, though initially expected to be brief and procedural in nature, amounts to a remarkable reckoning for Trump after years of investigations into his personal, business and political dealings. The case is unfolding against the backdrop not only of his third campaign for the White House but also against other investigations in Washington and Atlanta that might yet produce even more charges.
It represents the new split-screen reality for Donald Trump as he submits to the dour demands of the American criminal justice system while projecting an aura of defiance and victimhood at celebratory campaign events.
Wearing his signature dark suit and red tie, Trump turned and waved to crowds outside the building before heading inside to be fingerprinted and processed. He arrived at court in an eight-car motorcade from Trump Tower, communicating in real time his anger at the process.
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