Former President Donald Trump is set to appear in a Manhattan courtroom Tuesday on charges related to falsifying business records in a hush money investigation, the first president ever to be charged with a crime. The Associated Press has the story:
Trump is heading to court, here’s what to follow
Newslooks- NEW YORK (AP)
The Republican former president, Donald Trump who has denied any wrongdoing and has repeatedly assailed Manhattan investigation, has called the indictment “political persecution” and predicted it would damage Democrats in 2024. Trump’s lawyers have said the former president “did not commit any crime” and they will “vigorously fight this political prosecution in court.”
What to expect:
WHAT’S THE PLAN?
Trump flew into New York from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, on Monday and is expected to leave Trump Tower on Tuesday and make the nearly 4-mile (6-kilometer) drive to the Manhattan criminal courthouse, where he is scheduled to face a judge for his arraignment at 2:15 p.m. EDT.
WILL THERE BE A ‘PERP WALK’?
No. So-called perp walks happen when a criminal suspect is taken in handcuffs out of a police precinct and then driven to the courthouse. But Trump won’t be going to a police precinct. He’s arranged a surrender with the district attorney’s office and will head straight to the court, skipping a police station entirely. It’s very unlikely anyone will get a glimpse of him going into or out of court, unless he wants to be seen. That’s because there are underground entrances, side doors and tunnels in and around the Manhattan courthouse.
WHAT HAPPENS AFTER HE SURRENDERS?
Trump will get booked. Here’s what that means: Before computers, information on every criminal suspect would be written down in a big book kept by court officials. Now, it’s all computerized, but the process is largely the same. Court officers will take down Trump’s full name, age, birthdate, height and weight. They’ll check to see if the former president has any outstanding warrants. They’ll take his fingerprints — but they won’t roll his fingertips in ink; these days that’s done by computer, too. Officers will roll each fingertip on a computerized system that records the prints. They may take his photo, known as a mug shot. In New York, this process usually takes about two hours, but can be as long as four. But no one else is getting processed when Trump arrives, so it will go much faster. Then he goes before a judge.
WHAT HAPPENS IN THE HEARING?
An arraignment is a hearing in which the indictment will be formally unsealed and the charges will be read aloud, though Trump could request to waive the public reading. He will be asked how he pleads to the charges and is expected to answer “not guilty.” And Trump’s attorneys Joe Tacopina, Susan Necheles and Todd Blanche, will work with the judge and the district attorney’s office to set a date for the next time he’d be back in court. The judge has ruled that news photographers would be allowed to take photos of the former president at the start of his arraignment.
WILL HE BE ARRESTED?
Technically, yes. When he’s fingerprinted and processed, he’s considered under arrest and in custody. But it won’t look like what it does in the movies or on TV’s “Law & Order.” He won’t be handcuffed and he won’t sit in a jail cell, in part because parts of the courthouse will be cleared out for his arraignment — and because Trump is a former president with Secret Service protection. Not all defendants are handcuffed before they appear before a judge for an arraignment, though some are.
IF THERE IS A MUG SHOT, WILL IT BE MADE PUBLIC?
It depends. In New York City, mug shots aren’t generally made public. They are taken by the law enforcement agency that makes the arrest. There are situations where a judge could make the photo public in response to a public records fight. It could also get leaked, too.
WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING AT THE COURTHOUSE ON TUESDAY?
Court officials are trying to limit what business is happening at the courthouse at 100 Centre St. in Lower Manhattan on Tuesday. Police are expected to close some streets around the plaza and security will be tight. The New York Police Department is in charge of security in the city, but state court officers are in charge of security inside the court.
WILL TRUMP WALK OUT OF THERE?
In all likelihood, yes. New York’s bail laws have been overhauled over the past few years, meaning Trump would be released without bail because the anticipated charges against him don’t require that bail be set. But it’s possible that Judge Juan Merchan could decide that Trump is a flight risk and order him held in custody, with or without bail. Trump’s lawyers would argue that the former president’s ties to the U.S. are strong, and because he’s a presidential candidate, he has no reason to flee and should be allowed to leave.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
The judge and legal teams will set dates for the next hearing and deadlines for discovery, in which the district attorney’s office must turn over all its information to Trump’s lawyers, and motions, which include any requests to shift the venue or dismiss the case outright. That process usually takes months. Tacopina has said he needs to read the indictment first and research before he decides what to do on a change of venue or any motions to dismiss, though it would be very common to file one.
RALLY FOR TRUMP
People began gathering Tuesday morning for a rally for Donald Trump in a park outside the courthouse where the former president is scheduled to be arraigned.
The rally with Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene was scheduled to start several hours ahead of Trump’s court appearance.
Some anti-Trump protesters also appeared, unfurling a large banner saying “Trump Lies All the Time.”
Trump supporters also are expected expected to gather at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida on Tuesday night as he returns. ___
PROSECUTOR ARRIVES
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg arrived at court Tuesday morning in New York ahead of former President Donald Trump’s arraignment.
Bragg became Manhattan’s first Black district attorney in 2022, following his election the previous November. He inherited a yearslong grand jury investigation into hush money paid on Trump’s behalf during his 2016 presidential campaign.
After taking office, Bragg slowed his office’s move toward an indictment of Trump and said he had concerns about the strength of the case. That sparked a public protest by two prosecutors who were leading the investigation and resigned.
But Bragg convened a new grand jury this year after convicting Trump’s family company for tax fraud. He called that result a “strong demarcation line” for proceeding with other parts of the probe.
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TRUMP ATTORNEY: ‘NO GUILTY PLEA’
Trump attorney Joe Tacopina said the former president’s appearance in court for Tuesday’s arraignment would be brief because the processing “does not take long.”
“It won’t be a long day in court,” he said on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”
“We know the basis of the indictment and the factual allegations in the indictment,” Tacopina said, adding that Trump would maintain his innocence.
“One thing I can assure you as I sit here today: There’ll be no guilty plea in this case. That’s one thing I can guarantee you,” he said.
Tacopina appeared to predict that the case would ultimately be dismissed.
“I don’t think this case is going to see a juror,” he said. “I think there’s a legal challenge that will be made and should be made successfully.”
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SPECTATORS LINE UP
Spectators, many of them members of the news media, lined up overnight to get a seat inside the courtroom, or even just a glimpse of Trump, who wasn’t expected until Tuesday afternoon.
The building was surrounded by barricades, and people were undergoing layers of security checks. The reporters waiting in line were camped out under tents with lawn chairs, blankets and pizza boxes.
The nation’s 45th commander in chief was expected to be escorted from Trump Tower — which was also surrounded by barricades — to a lower Manhattan courthouse by the Secret Service.
Police braced for protests from supporters of Trump, a Republican who is running for the White House again in 2024. He called the decision by a grand jury to indict him “political persecution and election interference at the highest level.”
Prosecutors investigated money paid to porn actor Stormy Daniels and ex-Playboy model Karen McDougal to keep the women from going public with claims that they had sex with him.
