Donald Trump is officially arraigned: former US president pleads not guilty and leaves courtroom

This is reported by CNN.

For the indictment, Trump was formally arrested and held in custody at the District Attorney's office in Manhattan.

It was expected that Trump would be fingerprinted during the arrest, after which he would be taken to a courtroom to be charged.

Thus, Trump became the first US president in history to be criminally indicted.

Trump was not handcuffed, as he will remain under constant law enforcement protection.

On social networks, Trump called the events "surreal".

"Heading to Lower Manhattan, the Courthouse. Seems so SURREAL — WOW, they are going to ARREST ME. Can’t believe this is happening in America. MAGA!" Trump wrote on Truth Social.

The White House said that the Trump case is not a "center of attention" for President Joe Biden.

While responding to a question over Trump’s arraignment, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, "Look, the president’s going to focus on the American people like he does every day. This is something that is a focus for him. He's going to focus on things like making sure we continue to lower prices for the American people." 

Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony criminal charges of falsifying business records.

Prosecutors allege that Trump was part in an unlawful plan to suppress negative information, including an illegal payment of $130,000 that was ordered by the defendant to suppress the negative information that would hurt his campaign.

The reason for committing the crime was partly "advancement of one's candidacy".

Prosecutors also said they intend to call porn actress Stormy Daniels as a witness in the case against Trump.

After the arraignment, Trump and his lawyers can examine it fully for the first time.

Prosecutors allege that Trump tried to delay the payment of funds in order to avoid payment altogether. According to them, Michael Cohen negotiated a payment with Stormy Daniels to keep her quiet about her affair with Trump, after which Trump allegedly ordered Cohen to delay the payment as long as possible.

The documents also included an allegation that "Trump instructed Cohen to delay making the payments to Daniels until after the election because after that point, it would not matter if her story came out and they could perhaps avoid making the payments altogether." 

The next in-person hearing in the Trump case is scheduled for December 4 in New York.

Trump made no statement as he left the courtroom.

Donald Trump's lawyer, Todd Blanche, said in a statement outside the hearing that his client was "disappointed" and "upset." Blanche accused the prosecutor in this case of turning a "purely political issue" into "political persecution."

Afterward, Trump lawyer Todd Blanche told reporters that it was a “sad day for the country.” “You don’t expect this to happen to somebody who was president of the United States,” he said.

Trump's lawyer called this a "pattern" and said it does not allege any federal crime or violation of state law.

As for the accusations against Trump, Blanche promised to fight them hard.

Later it was reported that Trump headed from New York to Florida - his plane took off from New York's LaGuardia Airport. The former US president is expected to deliver a speech from his Florida residence, Mar-a-Lago.

Reference

In early 2018, The Wall Street Journal reported that former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen paid porn actress Stephanie Clifford (Stormy Daniels) $130,000 to keep quiet about her affair with Trump. The agreement was reached just before the 2016 presidential elections.

Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison on charges of a number of crimes, including illegal spending of money allocated for the election campaign. Some of them were paid for the silence of model Karen McDougal and porn actress Stormy Daniels. Their statements could compromise Trump on the eve of the election.

Cohen confirmed the payment, but said he made it on his own initiative and with his own funds. At the same time, Trump claimed that he did not ask his lawyer to break the law.

• Former US President Donald Trump is expected to be arrested on March 21; he called on his supporters to protest.

• On March 31, jurors in a New York court charged the former president with involvement in the payment of $130,000 to porn actress Stormy Daniels.

• Trump reacted to the jury's decision to vote in favor of criminal charges.

• On April 2, it was reported that Trump's campaign within two days of his indictment received more than $5 million in donations.

• On April 3, Trump flew to New York to appear in court.