NEW YORK: Donald Trump, the former president and front-runner for the 2024 Republican nomination, pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records after an investigation into hush money paid to an adult star.
Wearing a dark blue suit and red tie, Trump, 76, exhibited little
emotion on his face when he waved to a crowd assembled outside the
courthouse after he was driven in a motorcade from his New York residence at
Trump Tower. Trump, who has called the charges politically motivated, held
his fist in the air in a gesture to reporters as he departed Trump
Tower.
Looking sombre, Trump said nothing as he walked past police and
through a hallway in the courthouse before entering the courtroom for the
arraignment proceeding.
The first sitting or former US president
to face criminal charges, Trump was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury last
week in a case stemming from a 2016 hush-money payment to adult star Stormy
Daniels, though the specific charges had yet to be disclosed.
From
his motorcade, Trump posted on social media: "Heading to Lower Manhattan,
the Courthouse. Seems so SURREAL - WOW, they are going to ARREST ME. Can't
believe this is happening in America."
Trump was due to surrender to the office of Manhattan District
Attorney Alvin Bragg before an arraignment proceeding before Justice Juan
Merchan. At an arraignment, a defendant hears charges and can enter a plea.
Trump was fingerprinted but no mugshot photo was taken, according to a
Twitter post by a New York Times reporter.
In other social media
posts ahead of the arraignment, Trump renewed his attacks on Merchan, who
last year presided over a trial in which Trump's real estate company was
convicted of tax fraud.
Trump, who served as president from 2017
to 2021, in November announced a bid to regain the presidency in 2024 in a
bid to deny Democratic President Joe Biden, who beat him in 2020, a second
term in the White House.
A photo taken by a photographer in the
courtroom showed Trump sitting at the defence table, flanked by
lawyers.
Five photographers were to be admitted to the courtroom before
the arraignment to take pictures for several minutes. Trump's lawyers had
urged the judge to block any videography, photography and radio coverage,
arguing it would worsen "an already almost circus-like atmosphere."
The
businessman-turned-politician has been a familiar figure for decades in New
York, the city where he was raised, built his real estate business and
became a celebrity.
On a cool and sunny early spring day in the
most-populous US city, Trump supporters and detractors were separated by
barricades set up by police to try to keep order, though there were some
confrontations.
"Let's keep it civil, folks," a police officer
told them.
Hundreds of Trump supporters, at a park across from
the Manhattan courthouse, cheered and blew whistles, outnumbering his
detractors. The Trump critics held signs including one of Trump dressed in a
striped jail uniform behind bars and another that read, "Lock Him Up."
The White House remained mum on the drama in New York.
"I
think the American people should feel reassured that when there is an
ongoing case like this one we're just not commenting," White House
spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters.
Any trial is at
least more than a year away, legal experts said. Being indicted or even
convicted does not legally prevent Trump from running for president.
Bragg,
a Democrat who led the investigation, was set to give a news conference
after the arraignment.
Trump urges venue change
In a social media post, Trump said Manhattan Criminal Court was
a "very unfair venue" and urged that the case be moved to the New York City
borough of Staten Island, which regularly votes Republican.
Trump
will return to Florida and deliver remarks from his Mar-a-Lago resort at
8:15 p.m. on Tuesday (0015 GMT on Wednesday), his office said.
Among
the pro-Trump demonstrators was Gina Witcher, 55, of Maryland.
"We
feel like this is a very scary indictment," Witcher said, accusing
Democratic prosecutors of going after conservatives for political
reasons.
New Jersey resident Susan Cerbo, 55, wore an American flag
cowboy hat as she and her sister stood on the steps of a church across the
street from Trump Tower holding a "Trump for President" banner.
"Honestly,
he's just targeted because he's a presidential candidate," Cerbo said. "If
you can do it to him with all his money and power, they can do it to any
citizen of the United States."
Manhattan resident Kim Britt, 69,
was among the anti-Trump demonstrators.
"If anyone is above the
law, then we're not going to get anywhere," said Britt, holding a sign
reading, "Tick Tock Time's Up!"
Trump's lead has widened over
rivals in the Republican Party's presidential nominating contest, according
to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Monday, conducted after news broke that
he would face criminal charges.
Some 48% of Republicans say they
want Trump to be their party's presidential nominee, up from 44% last month.
Second-place Florida Governor Ron DeSantis fell from 30% to around 19%. More
than two-thirds of poll respondents said they believed Trump paid hush money
to Daniels, but half said the charges were politically motivated.
Trump faces multiple legal woes
The Manhattan grand jury that indicted Trump heard evidence
about a $130,000 payment to Daniels in the waning days of the 2016
presidential campaign. Daniels has said she was paid to keep silent about a
sexual encounter she had with Trump at a Lake Tahoe hotel in 2006.
Trump
denies a sexual relationship but has acknowledged reimbursing his former
personal lawyer Michael Cohen for the payment. In 2018, Cohen pleaded guilty
to federal campaign finance law violations and was sentenced to three years
in prison. He testified in the Manhattan investigation last month.
Trump
faces a separate criminal probe by a Democratic local prosecutor in Georgia
into whether he unlawfully tried to overturn his 2020 election defeat in the
state. He also faces two US Justice Department investigations led by a
special counsel into efforts to overturn the 2020 election results and his
handling of classified documents after leaving office.
