Former US president Donald Trump, to be criminally charged, has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records at his arraignment in a Manhattan court on charges relating to hush money payments made to a porn star before the 2016 presidential election.
The 76-year-old former Republican president, who is eying the White House for a second time in 2024, was arrested when he arrived to surrender at the Manhattan criminal court. He became the first former US president to be indicted, arrested and arraigned on criminal charges.
Wearing a dark blue suit and red tie, a stone-faced Trump walked into the courtroom with his steps heavy and slow and firmly said “not guilty” while facing the judge.
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Throughout the proceedings, Trump sat silently and spoke only when required to, either by pleading not guilty or by answering the judge when addressed directly.
Speaking outside court after the arraignment, Trump's attorney Todd Blanche said that his client was "frustrated" and "upset." He accused the prosecutor of turning a "completely political issue" into a "political prosecution."
"We're going to fight it, fight it hard," Blanche asserted.
On Tuesday night when Trump was arraigned, he said he "never thought anything like this could happen in America".
The historic indictment against Trump included charges of falsifying business records in connection with a hush payment that Trump’s former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen made to porn star Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016 election.
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Prosecutors alleged Trump was part of an unlawful plan to suppress negative information, including an illegal payment of USD 130,000 that was ordered by the defendant to suppress the negative information that would hurt his presidential campaign.
The indictment also alleged that the crime of falsifying business records was in part to “promote his candidacy”.
The next in-person hearing date for Trump’s case is set for December 4 in New York, CNN reported, adding that the former president has departed New York en route to Florida.
Trump flew back to his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida, where he addressed a crowd in a roughly 25-minute speech.
"The only crime that I have committed is to fearlessly defend our nation from those who seek to destroy it," Trump said in Florida and added that he is “going through a fake investigation” that “turned out to be a sham.”
The former US president also bashed judge Juan Merchan, who was overseeing the case, calling him a “Trump-hating judge” with a “Trump-hating wife” and family “whose daughter works for Kamala house and now receives money from the Biden Harris campaign".
The judge did not place a gag order on him but warned him that the issue would be revisited if the ex-president continued with his heated rhetoric about the case.
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A gag order would have prohibited Trump, his attorneys, other parties and witnesses from speaking about the case publicly.
(With PTI inputs)
