Former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty Tuesday to 34 felony charges that he falsified business records to hide hundreds of thousands of dollars in hush money he paid in the final week of the 2016 presidential campaign – payoffs that may have swayed the outcome of that election.
Trump surrendered in Manhattan Criminal Court early Tuesday afternoon and was taken into custody.
Trump, who also faces other criminal investigations, including two related to a failed coup attempt to remain in power despite losing re-election in 2020, is now the first president in American history to be fingerprinted and face a judge on criminal charges.
A New York City grand jury handed down the indictment against him last week after hearing months of testimony about Trump’s successful efforts to prevent Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal from revealing claims that they had an affair with him.
Trump was devastated a month before the 2016 election by revelations of a taped boast that his celebrity status allowed him to grab women by the genitals. Daniels’ story could make the difference in a race decided by just 77,744 votes in three states.
Former Trump lawyer and “fixer” Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to violating federal campaign finance laws in the matter and in 2018 was sentenced to three years in prison for that and several unrelated charges. Prosecutors in the case described Trump as “Individual-1” who directed Cohen to pay Daniels and arranged for the National Enquirer to pay McDougal.
The Justice Department has a policy of not prosecuting sitting presidents, and Trump was not prosecuted at the time.
Trump arrived in New York on Monday afternoon and plans to make a statement about his impeachment Tuesday evening at his country club home in West Palm Beach, Florida.
He has been vocal about the case since news reports revealed last month that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg was close to presenting the charges to a grand jury for a vote. Trump called Bragg a “racist” beneficiary of Democratic donor George Soros and that the investigation is part of a “witch hunt” that he claims has been under him since 2016. He also said that the judge in the case, Juan Merchan, was biased against him and warned that there will be “death and destruction” if prosecutors bring charges against him.
Seth Wenig/Associated Press
Trump spent Tuesday morning posting complaints about the case in capital letters to platforms like Twitter, Truth Social, including about the unfairness of being charged in Manhattan, where he is disliked by most residents, and the choice of Fox News guests.
“WHY DOES THE FOX KEEP TAKING BILL BARR. AS ATTORNEY GENERAL HE IS A COMPLETE COWARD WHO IS ACTUALLY PETRIFIED INTO IMPEACHES, WHICH DEMOCRATS THREATENED TO DO UNTIL HE BECAME A VIRTUAL “SLAVE” AND REFUSED TO INVESTIGATE AND PROSECUTED THE 2020-2019 ELECTIONS AWAY FROM THE SIDE the radical left is the biggest concern. He said he didn’t investigate, but he didn’t have the ‘guts’ to do the right thing, and now we have a nation that has gone downhill! Trump wrote, repeating the lie that the 2020 election was stolen from him.
Trump is also under criminal investigation in Georgia for his efforts to force state officials to overturn his electoral defeat in 2020 and by the DOJ for his actions leading up to and on January 6, 2021, when supporters stormed the US Capitol as Congress. met to present Joe Biden’s certificate of election. Federal prosecutors are also investigating Trump’s retention of top-secret government documents at his home in response to subpoenas demanding he turn them over.
But he’s running again for the White House, with most polls showing him with a bigger lead than his rival for the GOP nomination.