In a historic event, former President Donald Trump was arrested and arraigned Tuesday at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City. He is the first former U.S. president ever to face criminal charges. The arraignment prompted intense security measures and a chaotic scene outside the courthouse in lower Manhattan, where a stoic-looking Trump made no comment to members of the media as he entered the courtroom. After just shy of an hour before the judge, Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
The charges, handed down in a grand jury indictment, relate to a series of alleged criminal actions concerning payoffs to a doorman and two women, including hush-money payments made to an adult film star in 2016. The former president has maintained his innocence and attacked Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s probe as a politically motivated “witch hunt.” His defense team called the charges in the indictment “baseless” and “boilerplate.”
