Source: The Washington Post / Getty
Former President Donald Trump appeared before a judge in New York City to plead not guilty in a case of fraud he was indicted for last week.
The streets of lower Manhattan were packed on Tuesday (April 4th) as the former commander-in-chief arrived at the Criminal Courts Building to surrender himself to authorities. After being booked, he appeared before Judge Juan M. Merchan and entered his plea of “not guilty” surrounded by his legal team. Outside of that, Trump spoke very little as he sat in the quiet courtroom for the entirety of the proceedings, which lasted about an hour.
The case brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg stems from a hush money payment of $130,000 made by Trump’s former lawyer and fixer, Michael D. Cohen in the last days of the 2016 presidential election. The payment was made to cover up an affair Trump had with an adult film star, Stormy Daniels. Cohen stated that he did so at the behest of Trump. The alleged falsified records make up the 34 felonies that he is charged with – 11 counts involve the checks used in the payments, 11 for the monthly invoices that Cohen submitted to the company, and 12 counts cover the entries in Trump’s general ledger.
Further details in the statement-of-facts document filed by the prosecutors showed that there were two other hush-money deals involving The National Enquirer. One involved a $30,000 payment the tabloid made to a former doorman at Trump Tower who alleged that Trump fathered a secret child out of wedlock. The other deal involved former Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal who aimed to sell her story of the affair she had with Trump. The Enquirer would pay her $150,000 to suppress the story after an agreement.
Trump exited the courthouse and didn’t address his supporters. “He’s frustrated. He’s upset. But I will tell you what. He is motivated. It’s not going to slow him down,” his attorney Todd W. Blanche said to the press. In a press conference, District Attorney Bragg laid out the litany of charges in the case against Trump, pointing out how each count can violate state law. “Everyone stands equal under the law,” he said.
The former President returned to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida after being arraigned, and addressed a gathered crowd to speak about the experience. “This fake case was brought only to interfere with the upcoming 2024 election and it should be dropped immediately,” he said, calling it the latest of an “onslaught of fraudulent investigations.” Despite being warned against it, he proceeded to attack Bragg and called Judge Merchan a “Trump-hating judge.”
