Donald Trump schemed to illegally include himself in the 2016 election through a series of payments designed to keep them from disclosing allegations that could be detrimental to his candidacy, prosecutors said Tuesday as they unsealed a historic 34-count felony indictment against the former president.
The charges stem from a series of checks written by Trump or his company during the presidential campaign to his lawyer for his part in paying a porn actress who claimed she had an extramarital sexual encounter with Trump years earlier.
The payments were part of an “illicit scheme to identify and suppress negative information that may have undermined his campaign for president,” Assistant District Attorney Christopher Conroy said in court. They were done to “protect his candidacy,” he added.
The arraignment hearing in Manhattan, while largely procedural in nature, marked the first time in US history that a former president has had to appear before a judge for his own criminal prosecution. It marks a remarkable reckoning for Trump after years of investigations into his business, personal and political dealings. The case unfolds against the backdrop of not only his third campaign for the White House, but also other investigations in Washington and Atlanta that could lead to even more indictments.
Trump, impassive and silent as he walked in and out of the Manhattan courtroom, pronounced “not guilty” in a firm voice in front of the judge, who warned him to refrain from rhetoric that could inflame or cause civil unrest. By the end of it all, the always mercurial Trump, who in the weeks leading up to Tuesday’s hearing had dismissed the case as political persecution, uttered about 10 words, though he seemed to stare at Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg for a long moment. .
His next hearing is scheduled for December 4, although it is unknown if the former president’s presence will be required.
The outlines of the case have long been known, but the 16-page indictment contains new details about a plot that prosecutors say began in the early months of Trump’s campaign in 2015, when his celebrity past collided with his ambitions. presidential. It centers on bribery of two women — including porn star Stormy Daniels — who said they had extramarital sexual encounters with him years earlier, as well as a Trump Tower doorman who claimed to have a story about a son the former president allegedly had. had out of wedlock.
“It is not a single payment. There are 34 false statements and accounting records that concealed criminal conduct,” Bragg told reporters when asked how the three alleged payments were related.
The 34 charges against Trump are linked to a series of checks issued to Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, to reimburse him for his role in the payments to Daniels. Those payments, made over 12 months, were recorded in various internal company documents as an advance that prosecutors say did not exist. Cohen testified before the grand jury and is expected to be the prosecution’s star witness.
Nine of those monthly checks were paid from Trump’s personal accounts, but records related to them were maintained in the Trump Organization’s data system.
Prosecutors say the first time Trump ordered the payments was in the fall of 2015, when a former Trump Tower doorman was trying to sell information about Trump’s alleged out-of-wedlock child.
David Pecker, a friend of Trump and editor of the National Enquirer, paid the gatekeeper $30,000 for the exclusive rights to his story, under an agreement to protect Trump during his presidential campaign, according to the indictment. Pecker’s company later determined that the janitor’s story was false, but at Cohen’s request the janitor was allegedly kept confidential until after the election.
The investigation also concerns six-figure payments made to Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal. Both say they had sexual encounters with Trump years before he entered politics and while the businessman was married. Trump denies having relations with either woman and has denied any wrongdoing with the payments.
After his arraignment, Trump returned to his Florida residence to speak to supporters in prime time. At least 500 supporters have been invited, with some of the Republican’s most loyal lawmakers expected to attend. A conviction would not prevent Trump from running for or winning the presidency in 2024.
The day’s itinerary, with its captivating mix of political and judicial issues, represents the new reality for Trump: submitting to the grim demands of the US penal system while projecting an aura of defiance and victimhood at his campaign rallies.
Wearing his trademark dark suit and red tie, Trump turned and waved to the crowd outside the building before heading inside to be fingerprinted and processed. He arrived at the courthouse in an eight-vehicle motorcade from Trump Tower, communicating his anger with the process in real time.
“Towards Lower Manhattan, the Courthouse,” he posted on his Truth Social network. “It seems so surreal. Wow, they’re going to arrest me. I can’t believe this is happening in America. MAGA!” she added, using the acronym for “Make America Great Again,” the slogan she used on her 2016 election campaign.
Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche later told reporters it was “a sad day for the country.”
“You don’t expect this to happen to someone who was president of the United States,” he said.
Trump, who went through two House impeachment trials but was never found guilty in the Senate, will become the first former president to face criminal charges. The nation’s 45th commander-in-chief was escorted by the Secret Service from Trump Tower to court.
“He’s strong and he’s prepared,” his attorney Joe Tacopina told The Associated Press. Tacopina previously indicated in a television interview that the former president would not plead guilty to lesser charges, even if that could settle the case. And he added that he didn’t think the process would go all the way to a jury.
The New York police have braced for protests by Trump supporters who share the former president’s belief that the grand jury indictments — and three other ongoing investigations — are politically motivated and aimed at undermining his campaign to return to the White House in 2024. However, on Tuesday, there were more journalists than protesters.
Trump, a former reality TV star, has pushed that belief to his political advantage, saying he had raised $8 million in less than a week since his indictment was announced, arguing that there is a “hunt for witches”. His campaign launched a campaign fundraising request called “My Last Email Before Arrest” and has repeatedly criticized Bragg, incited his supporters to organize protests and claimed without presenting evidence that the presiding judge case “hates me”, something that his own lawyer has said is not true.
Tuesday’s hearing came amid tight security in New York, more than two years after Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol in a failed attempt to stop congressional certification of the incumbent’s election victory. President Joe Biden.
There were no major incidents in the vicinity of Trump Tower or the court. Police tried to keep the protesters supporting the former president separate from those against him, confining them to opposite sides of a park across from the courthouse.
