Donald Trump was seen Tuesday leaving a New York court where he pleaded not guilty to 34 criminal counts stemming from hush-money paid to a porn star before the 2016 election.<\/p>\n
Trump was seen exiting the building and making his way to a waiting motorcade, just over two hours after arriving at the Manhattan court complex for the historic hearing.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the former US President on Tuesday pleaded not guilty inside a packed New York courtroom as he became the first American president to be arrested on criminal charges, which have already upended the 2024 White House campaign.<\/p>\n
With a stern glare to waiting press, the 76-year-old former president walked into a Manhattan courtroom for the historic hearing where he was officially slapped with 34 criminal counts.<\/p>\n
Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges, which reportedly include the felony of conspiracy and stem from hush money paid to a former porn star during the tycoon\u2019s 2016 election campaign, to keep quiet over an alleged affair.<\/p>\n
Trump was expected to speak at length later including at a campaign-style event after the native New Yorker flies back to his estate in Florida.<\/p>\n
In a spectacle playing out on live television \u2014 with rival protesters rallying outside \u2014 the hearing marked a watershed moment for the US criminal and political system the year before an election in which Trump leads the race to be the Republican nominee.<\/p>\n
\u201cSeems so SURREAL \u2014 WOW, they are going to ARREST ME,\u201d Trump posted on his Truth Social app as he headed to the courthouse from Trump Tower, where he spent the night before the hearing.<\/p>\n
\u201cCan\u2019t believe this is happening in America. MAGA!\u201d<\/p>\n
The twice-impeached Republican is the first sitting or former American president to be criminally indicted \u2014 a development that has propelled the United States into uncharted political waters.<\/p>\n
Police lined the streets while helicopters buzzed in the skies as Trump\u2019s motorcade made the short drive to court, a journey given wall-to-wall live coverage on US networks although cameras were not allowed for the hearing itself.<\/p>\n
Trump was not subjected to a \u201cperp walk\u201d \u2014 in which a defendant is escorted in handcuffs past media cameras.<\/p>\n
But the former president was believed to have undergone the standard booking procedure of being fingerprinted \u2014 and potentially photographed, which would result in an all-time famous mug shot \u2014 at the Manhattan District Attorney\u2019s office.<\/p>\n
Trump claims he is the victim of \u201cpolitical persecution\u201d \u2014 but is also using the court case to energize his support base and raise millions of dollars for his bid to reclaim the White House.<\/p>\n
\u201cTHE RADICAL LEFT DEMOCRATS HAVE CRIMINALIZED THE JUSTICE SYSTEM,\u201d Trump posted hours before the hearing, branding the proceedings a \u201ckangaroo court.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hundreds of people gathered outside the venue \u2014 both of Trump supporters and anti-Trump demonstrators, as well as media and curious onlookers.<\/p>\n
Police stepped into the fray as the pro-Trump side \u2014 many sporting \u201cMAGA\u201d hats and attire emblazoned with the American flag \u2014 yelled slurs at counterprotesters.<\/p>\n
The anti-Trump camp unfurled a large banner reading \u201cTrump lies all the time\u201d and chanted \u201cLock him up!\u201d as Trump fans waved a flag with the slogan \u201cTrump or Death.\u201d<\/p>\n
The charges revolve around the investigation of $130,000 paid to adult film actress Stormy Daniels just days before Trump\u2019s election win.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s former lawyer and aide Michael Cohen, who has turned against his ex-boss, says he arranged the payment to Daniels in exchange for her silence about a tryst she says she had with Trump in 2006.<\/p>\n
Trump, whose third wife Melania had recently given birth at the time, denies the affair.<\/p>\n
Legal experts have suggested that if not properly accounted for, the payment could result in charges for falsifying business records, possibly for the purpose of covering up a campaign finance violation.<\/p>\n
Trump is facing a series of separate criminal investigations at the state and federal level that could result in further \u2014 more serious \u2014 charges between now and Election Day.<\/p>\n
They include his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state of Georgia, his handling of classified documents, and his possible involvement in the storming of the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.<\/p>\n
President Joe Biden, mindful that anything he might say could fuel Trump\u2019s claim of a politically \u201cweaponized\u201d judicial system, is one of the few Democrats holding back over the indictment of his rival.<\/p>\n
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden would \u201ccatch part of the news when he has a moment,\u201d but insisted: \u201cThis is not something that\u2019s a focus for him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Republicans meanwhile have largely rallied around Trump, including his rival in the party\u2019s presidential primary, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who called the indictment \u201cun-American.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Donald Trump was seen Tuesday leaving a New York court where he pleaded not guilty to 34 criminal counts stemming from hush-money paid to a porn star before the 2016 election. Trump was seen exiting the building and making his way to a waiting motorcade, just over two hours after arriving at the Manhattan court […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":36718,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-foreign-jurisdiction"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t