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Donald Trump pleas not guilty to 34 crimes in indictment

Donald Trump pleas not guilty to 34 crimes in indictment

Trump, the first former US president to face criminal charges, enters a not guilty plea at the arraignment hearing in New York. 

In New York City, former US President Donald Trump entered a not guilty plea to several charges relating to hush-money payments made prior to the 2016 presidential election, including one to an adult film actor. 

On Tuesday, just before 2:30pm (18:30 GMT), Trump, the first former US president to face criminal charges, appeared in court in Manhattan to formally hear the charges against him.

The Manhattan district attorney’s office announced the indictment as it was being unsealed, saying the Republican leader was charged with 34 felonies for falsifying New York business records “to conceal damaging information and unlawful activity from American voters before and after the 2016 election.” 

The prosecutor in charge of the investigation, Alvin Bragg, claimed that the alleged “capture and kill operation” involved three payoffs, including the $130,000 given to Stormy Daniels, an adult film actress. 

At a news conference on Tuesday afternoon, Bragg told reporters, “As this office has done time and time again, we today maintain our sacred commitment to ensure that everyone stands equal before the law.” 

No amount of wealth or influence can alter this enduring American value. Trump, who plans to run for office again in 2024, has denied any wrongdoing and called the investigation a “witch hunt.” 

“I’m going to the courthouse in Lower Manhattan. Wow, it all seems so surreal—they’re going to ARE ME. When he arrived to the Manhattan court, he commented on social media, “Can’t believe this is happening in America. Less than a week had passed since his arraignment and a New York grand jury had decided to prosecute the former president—a decision that was applauded by Trump’s detractors but drew harsh condemnation from prominent Republicans. 

Political splinters 

Due to concerns that violence may break out, there were many police officers on duty in advance of Tuesday’s hearing because the case has brought to light the country’s severe political divisions. 

Throughout the day, sizable crowds of Trump supporters and opponents joined opposing demonstrations close to the court. According to Jennifer Victor, an associate professor of political science at George Mason University, Trump’s followers “tend to truly feel wholeheartedly” that the case is politically motivated. 

As this lawsuit continues, Victor predicted that it “will be [a] highly divisive type of affair.” The focus of the New York probe was Daniels’ receipt of a $130,000 payment from Michael Cohen, the former president’s fixer and personal attorney. Cohen made the payment to Daniels in the final weeks of the 2016 campaign. 

Stephanie Clifford is Daniels’ true name, and she claimed to have had an affair with Trump in 2006. According to Cohen, he paid her at Trump’s request. 

Insisting that he done nothing illegal, the former president denied the affair and said that the money was made to save his reputation from an unfounded charge. 

The New York prosecutor, Bragg, revealed on Tuesday that a payment of $30,000 was made through a middleman to a former doorman at Trump Tower who claimed that Trump had fathered an unmarried child. 

In a separate incident, a woman got $150,000 from a US newspaper in exchange for keeping quiet about an alleged sexual encounter she had with Trump. Under New York law, the charges together have a potential punishment of more than 100 years in jail, but if he is found guilty at trial, the actual prison term would almost definitely be much lower. 

While altering company documents in New York is a misdemeanor punished by no more than a year in jail on its own, doing so in order to further or hide another crime elevates it to a felony punishable by up to four years in jail. Republican lawmakers continued to publicly support Trump on Tuesday, with Senator Ted Cruz stating that the situation “makes a mockery of the rule of law.” Cruz stated on Twitter that “not only is the indictment baseless, but this political persecution marks a bad day for our nation.” 

Democrats, on their part, have claimed that it shows “nobody is above the law.” 

Congressman Adam Schiff tweeted, “A somber time in the life of our country, when it’s necessary to arraign a former president on criminal charges.” 

Recent Republican assertions that the lawsuit is politically motivated have been repeatedly dismissed by Bragg as “baseless and provocative.” 

He declared during the news conference on Tuesday that “no matter who you are, they are felonies in New York State.” We “cannot and will not” make serious criminal activity the norm.

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