NEW YORK — Donald Trump pleaded not guilty Tuesday in front of a New York state judge to 34 felony charges of falsifying business records as he became the first former U.S. president in history to be arrested, in a prosecution hotly challenged by Mr. Trump and his attorneys as a partisan investigation.
A grim-faced Mr. Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, arrived at a courthouse in lower Manhattan for booking and a reading of the charges involving hush money payments to a pornography actress and a former Playboy bunny ahead of the presidential election in 2016. He was fingerprinted but not photographed for a “mug shot.”
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat who campaigned on a promise to indict Mr. Trump, accused the former president of improperly influencing the 2016 election by orchestrating the payments to quash negative news stories about him and then falsifying his corporate business records about the reasons for those payments.
“He did so to cover up crimes relating to the 2016 election,” Mr. Bragg said.
The indictment, which has galvanized Mr. Trump’s supporters and roiled the early 2024 campaign, was unsealed in a proceeding before New York Judge Juan Merchan. Mr. Trump, seated between his attorneys at the defense table, pleaded “not guilty” in a clear voice.
The former president answered “yes” and “I do” when asked during the nearly hourlong session whether he understood his rights.
DOCUMENT: Indictment against former President Donald Trump
The judge did not impose a gag order on Mr. Trump or anyone else in the case. He warned the parties to avoid statements that could spark unrest and violence after prosecutors raised concerns about social media posts against Mr. Bragg.
“This is a request I’m making. I’m not making an order,” the judge said.
Accompanied by his legal team and Secret Service agents, Mr. Trump reiterated that he is the victim of a political prosecution to undermine his latest campaign for the White House. He called his arrest “surreal.”
“Can’t believe this is happening in America. MAGA!” he said on social media.
He left the courthouse without speaking to reporters but was scheduled to give an address later at his home in Florida.
His lead defense attorney, Todd Blanche, told reporters outside the courthouse that Mr. Trump was defiant.
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“He’s frustrated. He’s upset. But it’s not going to slow him down,” Mr. Blanche said. “The district attorney has turned what is actually a political issue into a political prosecution. It’s disappointing. It’s sad, and we’re going to fight it. You don’t expect this to happen to somebody who was president of the United States.”
Mr. Trump’s allies said the prosecution will only strengthen his hand for the 2024 election. His campaign team reported raising about $7 million in just a few days after the indictment was revealed last week, with many new donors rallying to Mr. Trump’s side.
“The shameful arrest of President Trump is an unprecedented and chilling chapter in the Left’s weaponization of the justice system against their leading political opponent,” said House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, New York Republican. “This dangerous and illegal overreach by a radical DA has completely backfired for the corrupt Far Left Democrats who would rather desperately tear apart the fabric of our country than face President Trump at the ballot box. President Trump will defeat this latest witch-hunt, defeat Joe Biden, and will be sworn in as President of the United States of America in January 2025.”
Even Sen. Mitt Romney, a Utah Republican who has called Mr. Trump “unfit for office,” objected Tuesday to the prosecutor’s case.
“I believe the New York prosecutor has stretched to reach felony criminal charges in order to fit a political agenda,” Mr. Romney said. “No one is above the law, not even former presidents, but everyone is entitled to equal treatment under the law. The prosecutor’s overreach sets a dangerous precedent for criminalizing political opponents and damages the public’s faith in our justice system.”
He said voters “will ultimately render their own judgment on the former president’s political future.”
Sen. Marco Rubio, Florida Republican, warned that the arrest of Mr. Trump crosses a line from which there is no going back.
“After today, every prosecutor in America that wants to make a name for themselves now is going to have permission to basically go after someone in the other party,” he said. “It’s political, but it’s more than just political. It’s poison to our country. It will permanently change politics in America forever. We are going to regret this day, whether you like Trump or not, we are going to regret this day for a very long time.”
President Biden ignored questions about the case. The White House said Mr. Biden wasn’t following the developments of Mr. Trump’s arraignment.
“The president’s going to focus on the American people like he does every day,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. “This is not something that is a focus for him.”
Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, a New York Democrat who has long clashed with Mr. Trump, said the former president “will have a fair trial that follows the facts and the law.”
The case brought by Mr. Bragg will take months of legal wrangling before it eventually, if ever, comes to trial. Many legal analysts say Mr. Bragg’s legal theory for the case is weak and note that his predecessor and federal prosecutors declined to bring similar charges after their investigations.
Mr. Bragg said his investigators had received unspecified “additional evidence” and that his office conducted a “rigorous and thorough” inquiry of alleged actions seven years ago.
“The case was ready to be brought, and it was brought.”
Under New York law, falsifying business records can be charged as a felony if the motive is to cover up a second crime. Mr. Bragg said Mr. Trump’s second crime was trying to influence the 2016 presidential election by killing negative stories about him.
He said the core of the case is two-pronged: It’s a violation of state law to conspire to promote a political candidacy by “unlawful means,” and there is a federal cap on campaign contributions (currently $3,300 per individual). He said the $130,000 payment to porn actress Stormy Daniels in 2016 through former Trump attorney Michael Cohen exceeded federal contribution caps.
He said Mr. Trump orchestrated a “catch-and-kill” payment of $150,000 to former Playboy model Karen McDougal, paid by the former publisher of the National Enquirer tabloid, to prevent publication of her story that she had an affair with Mr. Trump. Mr. Bragg said the scheme was carried out “to help Mr. Trump’s chance of winning the [2016] election.”
Chris Conroy, a career prosecutor in the district attorney’s office, said “diligent, thoughtful New Yorkers” on the grand jury returned the indictment after the investigation showed an organized effort to identify and suppress unflattering stories about Mr. Trump during the 2016 campaign.
Mr. Conroy said the purpose of a series of payments was to avoid a story from an “adult film” star.
“That is why we are here,” Mr. Conroy told the court.
Shane Stansbury, a former assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York and now a law professor at Duke University Law School, said Mr. Bragg’s hints at multiple secondary crimes is a sound legal strategy.
“That tells me that the DA is going to proceed on multiple fronts, which will strategically provide him with more ammunition when the defense seeks to dismiss the indictment. It is not uncommon for prosecutors to indict under multiple legal theories or alternative legal theories as long as they are providing sufficient notice to the defense,” he said.
Mr. Stansbury said he was surprised that Mr. Bragg didn’t file any conspiracy charges against Mr. Trump, given the way he lays out the case in the indictment.
“It is an interesting indictment to read because there is no conspiracy charge, but when one reads the statement of facts there, it reads a lot like a conspiracy,” he said.
Prosecutors pushed for a January trial date, which coincides with the start of primary election season. The defense was cool to the proposal.
“We don’t have any discovery yet,” Mr. Blanche told the judge. “We think that’s a little bit aggressive.”
The area around the criminal court building in Manhattan was a hive of activity. Reporters stretched around the block before sunrise to snatch a pass for court proceedings, while Trump supporters filtered into Collect Pond Park near the courthouse to protest with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Georgia Republican.
The area was divided between a pro-Trump side and counterprotesters who said the former president will get a comeuppance.
“This is the side of democracy and justice,” said Jennifer Fisher, a snowbird who divides her time between New York City and Florida.
Nodding across the barriers to the Trump side, she said, “They are a cult.”
She held a sign that said, “Trump’s Trials Have Just Begun.”
“I’m just glad he’s been indicted and is being held accountable,” she said.
On the pro-Trump side, Michael Picard of Hartford, Connecticut, stood out in his American flag overalls without a shirt underneath them.
“Donald Trump is the best president,” he said. “He’s going to win [the case]. He shouldn’t be prosecuted for a crime he didn’t commit.”
Paulina Farr, from Long Island, held a flag that depicted Mr. Trump holding a military-style weapon atop a tank.
“He’s always fighting for us American people,” she said. “We’re not the violent people that the media normally tries to portray us [as].”
Rep. George Santos, the New York Republican who famously lied about his background, whisked through the pro-Trump side at one point, causing a media frenzy.
Prosecutors said they plan to turn over evidence, or “discovery,” in the case to Mr. Trump’s team by mid-June.
The judge wants both sides to file motions and response filings in August and September so he can make rulings on the motions on Dec. 4.
Mr. Blanche said Mr. Trump could waive his right to appear on that date, given the “incredible expense” involved in bringing the former president to New York.
• Tom Howell Jr. reported from New York. Seth McLaughlin contributed to this report.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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