Trump faces criminal charges in court after historic indictment

Our live coverage of former President Donald Trump’s historic indictment and felony charges has moved here.

Former President Donald Trump sits with his attorneys inside the courtroom during his arraignment at the Manhattan Criminal Court on Tuesday.

There were two big things to fear before Tuesday’s momentous first criminal arraignment of an ex-president of the United States.

The first was that while Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s case might cite solid evidence of alleged wrongdoing by Donald Trump, his legal theory might prove too vague, complex and seem like too much of a throwback to a 7-year-old election to be an easy sell to the public.

The other was that Trump would respond with such fury and incitement that he would rip even deeper divides in a nation estranged by his aberrant presidency and stoke new turmoil that could further damage vital political and judicial institutions.

Both of those worst-of-all-worlds scenarios came true on a day that Trump described as “SURREAL” in a social media post sent as he motorcaded to court to turn himself in.

The result is that another grim and even tragic chapter may lie ahead for a country that is still far from working through the fallout from Trump’s single term as it girds for yet another bitter election.

Read the full analysis here.

Former President Donald Trump sits in the courtroom with his attorneys Todd Blanche, Susan Necheles, Joe Tacopina and Boris Epshteyn during his arraignment at the Manhattan Criminal Court on April 4 in New York.

Following former President Donald Trump’s arraignment, prosecutors said they expect to produce the bulk of the discovery in the next 65 days.

Trump’s team has until August 8 to file any motions and the prosecution will respond by September 19. Judge Juan Merchan said he will rule on the motions at the next in-person hearing, scheduled for December 4.

Trump attorney Jim Trusty said Tuesday he expects “robust” motions to challenge the case and hopes they can succeed in stopping the case. 

If not, Trusty said he expects Trump’s attorneys will “figure out if there’s a way to try to push this earlier” than the December 4 hearing.

Former President Donald Trump arrives for his arraignment at the Manhattan Criminal Court on Tuesday.

Former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 felony criminal charges of falsifying business records in Manhattan criminal court Tuesday afternoon.

Trump surrendered and was placed under arrest Tuesday before he was arraigned in a historic and unprecedented court appearance, in which the former president heard the charges against him for the first time. While the arraignment was routine, the case is now poised to linger over Trump’s 2024 candidacy as he fights the charges both in court and in public.

What prosecutors are alleging: Prosecutors alleged that Trump sought to undermine the integrity of the 2016 election through a hush money scheme with payments made to women who claimed they had extramarital affairs with Trump. He has denied the affairs.

Trump was part of an unlawful plan to suppress negative information, including an illegal payment of $130,000 that was ordered by the defendant to suppress the negative information that would hurt his campaign, prosecutors alleged.

Trump “repeatedly and fraudulently falsified New York business records to conceal criminal conduct that hid damaging information from the voting public during the 2016 presidential election,” according to the charging documents.

Trump’s Tuesday night speech: After the arraignment, Trump immediately flew back to Florida. He held an event with his supporters Tuesday evening at his Mar-a-Lago resort, where Trump made his public case against the indictment and previewed how he intends to fight against the charges politically as he runs again for the White House in 2024.

While he was warned by Judge Juan Merchan during Tuesday’s arraignment not to make comments that could “jeopardize the rule of law” or create civil unrest, Trump railed later that evening against Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and the judge himself.

“I never thought anything like this could happen in America, never thought it could happen. The only crime that I have committed is to fearlessly defend our nation from those who seek to destroy it,” Trump said.

“It’s an insult to our country,” he added.

The next dates to watch for: Trump’s team has until August 8 to file any motions and the prosecution will respond by September 19. Judge Juan Merchan said he will rule on the motions at the next in-person hearing, scheduled for December 4.

Read more.

Former President Trump was “upset” after “an emotional day” a source close to the former president tells CNN. 

“Who wouldn’t want to be with people that adore him after that?” the source said of the former president.

Trump ended the day eating dinner on the patio of his Mar-a-Lago club, surrounded by club members, family and some of his staunchest supporters on the hill, including Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene, another source present told CNN. 

Following uncharacteristically brief remarks after his arraignment, Trump was seen DJ-ing from a laptop amid his supporters, and at one point chatting with far-right figure Roger Stone. 

“It was a long day,” a third source said of Tuesday’s historic events. 

Former President Donald Trump applauds at an event at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday.

Former President Donald Trump made a speech at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Tuesday night after he was arraigned in Manhattan on felony charges of falsifying business records — and delivered a barrage of false claims that have been previously debunked. 

Trump pleaded not guilty to all the charges Tuesday.

The former president was repeatedly inaccurate when he pivoted to the subject of the federal investigation into his handling of official governments. He also repeated some of his favorite falsehoods on a variety of other subjects. 

Here is a fact check of some of Trump’s claims:

George Soros and the district attorney: As he has on social media in the last month, Trump invoked liberal billionaire donor George Soros while criticizing District Attorney Alvin Bragg in his speech on Tuesday night — claiming that Bragg is a “radical left, George Soros-backed prosecutor.” 

Facts First: This needs context. Soros did not make any donations to Bragg’s 2021 election campaign, and a Soros spokesperson, Michael Vachon, told CNN that the two men have never once communicated in any way; there is no evidence that Soros had any role in Bragg’s decision to prosecute Trump. However, Soros, a longtime supporter of Democratic district attorney candidates who favor criminal justice reform, did support Bragg’s election campaign indirectly: he was a major donor to a liberal political action committee, Color of Change PAC, that says it spent just over $500,000 on an independent expenditure effort in support of Bragg’s candidacy.  

Former presidents’ handling of documents after leaving the White House: Defending his handling of government documents, which is the subject of an ongoing federal investigation, Trump repeated his false claim that that several other former presidents took documents with them upon leaving the White House. 

Trump claimed in his Tuesday speech that “openly taking boxes of documents and mostly clothing and other things to my home” is something “which President Obama has done.” He continued, “The Bushes have done. Jimmy Carter’s done. Ronald Reagan is done. Everybody’s done.”

Facts First: This is false, as the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) itself pointed out in a statement last year; there is no evidence that previous presidents did anything like what Trump did after the Presidential Records Act took effect in 1981 (beginning with the Reagan administration). In reality, NARA was granted custody of the presidential records of former Presidents Ronald Reagan, Barack Obama and both George Bushes as soon as these presidents left office, as required by the Presidential Records Act, and it was NARA, not those presidents, that moved those documents to temporary archival facilities — facilities managed by NARA. 

NARA said in an October statement that it gained physical and legal custody of Obama, Reagan, H.W. Bush and W. Bush’s records, as well of those of President Bill Clinton, “when those presidents left office.” It said of the temporary facilities to which the documents were moved: “All such temporary facilities met strict archival and security standards, and have been managed and staffed exclusively by NARA employees. Reports that indicate or imply that those Presidential records were in the possession of the former Presidents or their representatives, after they left office, or that the records were housed in substandard conditions, are false and misleading.” 

Inflation: Trump claimed that the United States has “an economy that has been crippled by the biggest inflation we have seen in more than 60 years.” 

Facts First: Trump’s “60 years” claim is an exaggeration, though the inflation rate does remain high by historical standards.  

Last June, the year-over-year inflation rate hit its highest level since late 1981, 9.1%. But about 41 years does not round to “60 years,” much less “more than 60 years”. The actual highest year-over-year inflation rate for the last 60 years is 14.8% (in early 1980), far higher than mid-2022 levels. More importantly, year-over-year inflation has now declined for eight straight months, hitting 6% in February 2023 — not even close to the 60-year high. 

This Trump claim is an example of how the former president tends to increase his exaggerated figures over time. At a campaign rally in Texas in late March, he claimed — also incorrectly — that the country had the highest inflation in “50 years.” 

Read more here.

FormerPresident Donald Trump arrives to deliver remarks at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday.

Former president Donald Trump claimed Tuesday night that the Presidential Records Act requires prolonged negotiations over the return of documents — while denouncing the August federal search of his Mar-a-Lago property.

He said: “Just so everyone knows, I come under what’s known as the Presidential Records Act, which was designed and approved by Congress long ago just for this reason. Under the act, I’m supposed to negotiate with NARA, the National Archives and Records Administration.”

He went on to disparage NARA.  

Facts First: Trump’s claim is false. The Presidential Records Act says that, the moment a president leaves office, the National Archives and Records Administration gets custody and control of all presidential records from his administration. Nothing in the law says there should be a negotiation between a former president and NARA over a former president’s return of presidential documents – much less that there should have been a monthslong battle after NARA first contacted Trump’s team in 2021 to try to get some of the records that had not been handed over at the end of his presidency. 

Jason R. Baron, former director of litigation at NARA, told CNN in an email last week (when we fact-checked a similar false claim by Trump): “The former President is simply wrong as a matter of law. As of noon on January 20, 2021, when President Biden took office, all presidential records of the Trump Administration came into the legal custody of the Archivist of the United States. Full stop. That means no presidential records ever should have been transferred to Mar-a-Lago, and there was no further talking or negotiating to be had.” 

Timothy Naftali, a CNN presidential historian, New York University professor and former director of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library, described Trump’s claim as “nonsense” and said the former president’s description of the Presidential Records Act is “a matter of fantasy,” concocted to allow Trump to “pretend that he’s a victim.” 

The law, Naftali said in an interview last week, makes clear that documents Trump had at Mar-a-Lago are presidential records that legally belong to the public and are legally required to be in NARA’s custody. The law provides “no room for debates and discussions between presidential advisers and the National Archives at the end a presidency” about such records, Naftali said. 

Former President Donald Trump repeated one of his familiar lies about the 2020 election he lost, in his Tuesday night speech from his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida.

Trump claimed that there were “millions of votes illegally stuffed into ballot boxes, and all caught on government cameras.” 

Former Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance, who first began the investigation into former President Donald Trump’s alleged role in hush-money payments but chose not to indict, said current DA Alvin Bragg “has done the work necessary to bring this case forward.”

Vance told CNN’s Jake Tapper Tuesday night, “I think there are factual allegations that at least myself personally, I cannot recall that we were aware of,” in response to whether Bragg had collected any new evidence since Vance left DA’s office.

He added, “There’s no doubt that district attorney Bragg has dug deep, believes in this case, and I think we need to have confidence that he has done the work necessary to bring this case forward.”

The former DA also commented on Trump’s speech following his arraignment, calling his attacks on Bragg, as well as the judge presiding over the case, and their families, “legally risky.”

Vance said Trump could run up against obstruction charges specific to the New York code which make it illegal to obstruct government functions through threats or intimidation.

“If that were to happen in a superseding indictment, it could turn a perceptually weak indictment on technical violations of law into something a jury would understand and be much more concerned about and elevate the strength of the overall indictment against the president,” he said.

Stormy Daniels exits the federal court building in lower Manhattan on April 16, 2018.

Donald Trump had a substantial victory in another court, Tuesday, 3,000 miles away from his New York legal drama. 

The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Trump in his effort to recoup additional legal fees from adult film star Stormy Daniels, who had filed and lost a defamation suit against the former president. 

Daniels was ordered to pay Trump’s attorneys just over $120,000 in legal fees. That’s on top of the over $500,000 in court-ordered payments to Trump attorneys she’s already been ordered to pay. 

The civil litigation is officially unrelated to Trump’s arrest and charges filed against him in New York — but both involved Daniels, who was paid $130,000 in hush money during the 2016 presidential campaign to keep quiet about an affair. Trump denies the affair.

Daniels sued Trump in 2018 after Trump called an allegation by Daniels that an unknown man threatened her in a parking lot to keep quiet about her alleged affair with Trump a “total con job” in a tweet. 

Dismissing the lawsuit in October 2018, federal Judge S. James Otero said Trump’s statement was protected by the First Amendment. 

Otero later ordered Daniels to pay roughly $293,000 in legal fees. Daniels was also ordered to pay another $245,000 in fees after losing another appeal. 

Daniels, whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford, had asked the appeals court to knock down another award. The court declined her request. 

“Clifford’s argument that the fee request is unreasonable and excessive is not well-founded,” the 9th Circuit filing states. 

“Trump’s attorneys reasonably spent the requested 183.35 hours preparing a motion to dismiss, a reply to the opposition to the motion, two extension motions, the answering brief, and the fee application,” it added. 

Trump’s attorney Harmeet Dhillon celebrated the ruling in a tweet Tuesday.

Former President Donald Trump arrives to deliver remarks at the Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, on Tuesday, April 4. 

Former President Donald Trump claimed Tuesday that the United States has “an economy that has been crippled by the biggest inflation we have seen in more than 60 years.”

Last June, the year-over-year inflation rate hit its highest level since late 1981, 9.1%. But about 41 years does not round to “60 years,” much less “more than 60 years.” The actual highest year-over-year inflation rate for the last 60 years is 14.8% (in early 1980), far higher than mid-2022 levels. More importantly, year-over-year inflation has now declined for eight straight months, hitting 6% in February 2023 — not even close to the 60-year high. 

This Trump claim is an example of how the former president tends to increase his exaggerated figures over time. At a campaign rally in Texas in late March, he claimed — also incorrectly — that the country had the highest inflation in “50 years.” 

Michael Cohen, the former personal attorney to ex-President Donald Trump, said he believes “everyone who commits a crime” should be held accountable and that Trump’s case is now up to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and his team.

He assured that Manhattan District Attorney Bragg will provide “a significant amount of documentary evidence that will corroborate” allegations made in Trump’s now-unsealed indictment.

Cohen also criticized statements made by the former president on social media.

Some background: Cohen pleaded guilty to nine federal crimes including tax fraud, lying to Congress and campaign finance violations for helping pay off two women who threatened to go public with past alleged affairs with Trump just before the 2016 election. Trump has denied the affairs.

Former President Donald Trump gestures as he speaks at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Tuesday.

Former President Donald Trump condemned the criminal charges he faced in New York Tuesday night, saying to a crowd of supporters that “the only crime that I have committed is to fearlessly defend our nation from those who seek to destroy it.” 

Trump flew back to his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida following his arraignment in Manhattan.

Trump went on to group the indictment — stemming from a hush money payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign — with various other legal and political threats he’s faced, dismissing them all. 

He repeated his claim that the prosecution is meant to derail his candidacy.

Throughout his remarks, Trump was dismissive of the case presented by prosecutors.

Trump also went to attack the other legal threats still percolating, including an investigation in Georgia into election interference, a DOJ investigation into his handling of classified documents post-presidency and an investigation by the New York attorney general into the Trump Organization. 

Trump said, of the case being led by Atlanta District Attorney Fani Willis, that she is “doing everything in her power to indict me over an absolutely perfect phone call, even more perfect than the one I made with the president of Ukraine.”

On the Justice Department investigation, overseen by Special Counsel Jack Smith, Trump said: “This lunatic special prosecutor named Jack Smith – I wonder what it was prior to a change – who others of his ilk say, he’s even worse than they are, is only looking at Trump.”

Trump also criticized a lack of focus on President Joe Biden’s classified documents.

Finally, Trump went on to condemn New York Attorney General Letitia James’ investigation into the Trump Organization saying she, “campaigned on ‘I will get Trump.’ I will get him. This was her campaign. Never ran for office. I will get him. Her name is Letitia James,” he said. 

Toward the end of his remarks, Trump returned to criticizing Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and the charges leveled against him Tuesday in New York.

He also directed sharp attacks at Judge Juan Merchan, who is overseeing the hush money case, saying, “I have a Trump-hating judge.” 

Taliban special force fighters arrive inside the Hamid Karzai International Airport after the U.S. military's withdrawal, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Aug. 31, 2021.

Former President Donald Trump claimed on Tuesday, as he has before, that the US left behind “$85 billion worth of the best military equipment in the world” when it withdrew from Afghanistan in 2021.  

Facts First: Trump’s $85 billion figure is false. While a significant quantity of military equipment that had been provided by the US to Afghan government forces was indeed abandoned to the Taliban upon the US withdrawal, the Defense Department has estimated that this equipment had been worth about $7.1 billion — a chunk of about $18.6 billion worth of equipment provided to Afghan forces between 2005 and 2021. And some of the equipment left behind was rendered inoperable before US forces withdrew. 

As other fact-checkers have previously explained, the “$85 billion” is a rounded-up figure (it’s closer to $83 billion) for the total amount of money Congress has appropriated during the war to a fund supporting the Afghan security forces. A minority of this funding was for equipment. 

Judge Juan Merchan at his office in New York County Criminal Court in October 2022.

As former President Donald Trump attacked the judge and prosecutor in his case tonight from Mar-a-Lago, here’s a reminder of what Judge Juan Merchan told participants in the case earlier today during the arraignment:

What Trump said tonight: After the arraignment in New York, Trump immediately flew back to Florida. He held an event with his supporters Tuesday evening at his Mar-a-Lago resort, where Trump made his public case against the indictment.

Toward the end of his remarks, Trump returned to criticizing Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and the charges leveled against him today in New York.

He also directed sharp attacks at Merchan, overseeing the case, saying, “I have a Trump-hating judge.” 

Former President Donald Trump speaks at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Tuesday.

Defending his handling of government documents, which is the subject of an ongoing federal investigation, former President Donald Trump repeated his false claim that several other former presidents took documents with them upon leaving the White House. 

Trump claimed in his Tuesday speech that “openly taking boxes of documents and mostly clothing and other things to my home” is something “which President Obama has done.” He continued, “The Bushes have done. Jimmy Carter’s done. Ronald Reagan is done. Everybody’s done.”

Facts First: This is false, as the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) itself pointed out in a statement last year; there is no evidence that previous presidents did anything like what Trump did after the Presidential Records Act took effect in 1981 (beginning with the Reagan administration). In reality, NARA was granted custody of the presidential records of former Presidents Ronald Reagan, Barack Obama and both George Bushes as soon as these presidents left office, as required by the Presidential Records Act, and it was NARA, not those presidents, that moved those documents to temporary archival facilities – facilities managed by NARA. 

NARA said in an October statement that it gained physical and legal custody of Obama, Reagan, H.W. Bush and W. Bush’s records, as well of those of President Bill Clinton, “when those presidents left office.” It said of the temporary facilities to which the documents were moved: “All such temporary facilities met strict archival and security standards, and have been managed and staffed exclusively by NARA employees. Reports that indicate or imply that those Presidential records were in the possession of the former Presidents or their representatives, after they left office, or that the records were housed in substandard conditions, are false and misleading.” 

In other words, there is no equivalence between Trump’s handling of presidential documents and those previous presidents’. In those other cases, the presidential documents were in NARA’s possession and stored securely and professionally. In Trump’s case, the presidential documents found in haphazard amateur storage at Mar-a-Lago, including documents marked classified, were in Trump’s possession despite numerous attempts by both NARA and the Justice Department to get them back. 

You can read a longer fact check here. 

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03:28 - Source: CNN

Former President Donald Trump delivers remarks on the day of his court appearance in New York after being indicted by a Manhattan grand jury following a probe into hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels, in Palm Beach, Florida, on Tuesday.

As he has on social media in the last month, former President Donald Trump invoked liberal billionaire donor George Soros while criticizing District Attorney Alvin Bragg in his speech on Tuesday night — claiming that Bragg is a “radical left, George Soros-backed prosecutor.”  

Vachon told CNN: “Between 2016 and 2022, George Soros personally and Democracy PAC (a PAC to which Mr. Soros has contributed funds) have together contributed roughly $4 million to Color of Change’s PAC, including $1 million in May 2021. None of those funds were earmarked for Alvin Bragg’s campaign. George Soros and Alvin Bragg have never meet in person or spoken by telephone, email, Zoom etc. There has been no contact between the two.” 

Soros has been a frequent target of antisemitic conspiracy theories painting the Jewish philanthropist as a puppetmaster behind various US and international events. Rashad Robinson, Color of Change president, called Trump and his allies’ latest invocations of Soros both “antisemitic” and “anti-Black.” He told CNN the attacks are an overstatement of both Soros’ role in the PAC’s decision-making and the PAC’s role in Bragg’s election victory. 

You can read a longer fact check here. 

Judge Juan Merchan at his office in New York County Criminal Court on October 21, 2022.

Judge Juan Merchan did not impose – nor was he asked to impose – a gag order on either party during Trump’s arraignment Tuesday afternoon.

“Such restraints are the most serious and least intolerable on First Amendment rights. That does apply doubly to Mr. Trump, because he is a candidate for the presidency of the United States,” Merchan said during the hearing, according to a court transcript.

A potential gag order was a talking point among Trump supporters leading into Tuesday, suggesting the justice system was stacked against the former president.

Merchan, however, urged both sides to urge their clients and witnesses to watch their behavior, though he specified it was a “request” and not an “order.”

Former President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference following his court appearance over an alleged 'hush-money' payment, at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, on April 4.

Former President Donald Trump said he “never thought anything like this could happen in America” Tuesday night after he was arraigned in New York City.

The former president emerged to a crowd of his supporters accompanied by the song “Proud to be an American.” The crowd chanted “USA” as he made his way to a microphone.

He mentioned the 2020 presidential election, current President Joe Biden and claimed “our country is going to hell” to which the audience applauded.

The Manhattan district attorney’s office has been investigating Trump in connection with his alleged role in a hush money payment scheme and cover-up involving adult film star Stormy Daniels that dates to the 2016 presidential election.

The indictment by a New York grand jury was unsealed Tuesday, providing the public and Trump’s legal team with details about the charges against him for the first time. Trump on Tuesday pleaded not guilty to 34 felony criminal charges.

Former President Donald Trump arrives to speak during a press conference following his court appearance over an alleged 'hush-money' payment, at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, on April 4.

Former President Donald Trump is delivering remarks from his Mar-A-Lago property in Florida following his arraignment in New York City earlier Tuesday.

Prosecutors alleged Trump was part of an unlawful plan to suppress negative information, including an illegal payment of $130,000 that was ordered by the defendant to suppress information that would hurt his campaign.

Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 felony criminal charges of falsifying business in the first degree.

Joe Tacopina, lawyer of former president Donald Trump, speaks to the press outside the Manhattan Criminal Court in New York on April 4.

Joe Tacopina, an attorney for Donald Trump, said the former president wanted to utter the words “not guilty” himself during his arraignment Tuesday.  

Tacopina said the defense team was not expecting the indictment to come without specifics about the alleged underlying crimes. 

“What really wasn’t expected was that they were going to hand down and indictment without specifying what these alleged underlying crimes were,” Tacopina said. “It’s shocking to me that a state prosecutor would try and prosecute something as thin as this and prosecute a violation of federal election laws when they’re state prosecutors, which further enhances the position we have taken all along that this is a political persecution, political prosecution, and the weaponization of the justice system which honestly makes me ill.”

Tacopina repeated his strong belief that this case won’t even get to trial. “I don’t think we are going to get to a jury. I think this case is going to fall on the law way before we get there.” 

Former President Donald Trump, speaking to supporters after his arraignment, criticized the indictment leveled against him in New York Tuesday, saying he’s “going through a fake investigation” that “turned out to be a sham.” 

Trump’s remarks came on call organized by faith leaders and supporters, during which he briefly spoke out against the investigation by the Manhattan district attorney. 

He continued, “and it’s turning out to be that. And we have others down the line. But we’ve been winning them for eight years now, ever since we came down the golden escalator, as they call it, at Trump Tower.” 

Trump’s brief remarks also included him touting his appointment of Supreme Court justices and his support of religion during his presidency.

Trump became the first former president to face criminal charges Tuesday when he was arraigned in a New York courtroom following an indictment returned last week by a grand jury.  

Trump is slated to hold an event at Mar-a-Lago later this evening that gives the 2024 Republican presidential hopeful a chance to more fully respond to the charges. 

Trump departs his plane as he arrives in Florida.

Former President Donald Trump has arrived at the Palm Beach International Airport in West Palm Beach, Florida, after pleading not guilty to 34 criminal charges in a Manhattan courtroom Tuesday afternoon.

Trump’s personalized Boeing 757 landed at 6:40 p.m. ET.

The former president is expected to speak later tonight from Mar-a-Lago.

The Naked Cowboy performs outside Trump Tower, Monday, April 3, 2023 in New York.

On a warm spring day in New York City, police barricades kept loud pro- and anti-Trump protesters apart in a small park near the courthouse where former President Donald Trump was arraigned, with NYPD officers standing in the middle as some demonstrators shouted insults and profanities at one another.

On the side filed with hundreds of supporters of the former president earlier this afternoon, a man strummed chords on a violin as he stood next to a protester holding a sign saying, “Trump didn’t start any wars!” 

“Lock him up!” said a sign carried by one protester on the other side. “Trump is the definition of depravity,” read another sign. 

The Naked Cowboy, a singing guitar player who usually poses with tourists in Times Square wearing only his briefs, stopped by to show his support for the former president. He took pictures with backers of the former president. 

Denise Gumora, a 62-year-old fitness instructor from Manhattan, held up a small placard that had “45” written on it for the former president.

“Leave that man alone,” said Gumora, a lifelong Democrat and former Bernie Sanders supporter who turned to Trump after Sanders’ failed presidential bid.

Another Trump backer, Florida state Rep. Anthony Sabatini, a Republican who is running for Congress, said he traveled to New York for the protest, leaving his wife and their 16-day-old baby back in the Sunshine State. 

Sabatini, who had called for the defunding of the FBI after the agency’s search of the former president’s Mar-a-Lago home, said he thinks the indictment actually helps Trump’s presidential bid.

“I think what the DA has done is put more of a focus on Donald Trump and his message, more than ever before,” he said. “They just amplified it probably tenfold.”

On the anti-Trump side of the barricades, one protester wore a Trump mask and a prison jumpsuit. Some banged cowbells and drums as marijuana smoke wafted in the air. 

Community activist David Galarza Santa held up a roll of paper towels as a reminder of the day Trump visited Puerto Rico and hurled rolls of paper towels at survivors of Hurricane Maria.

“Now he can use it dry up his crocodile tears,” Galarza Santa said of Trump. 

This photo taken April 4, 2023, shows a copy of the unsealed indictment for former President Donald Trump. 

The Manhattan district attorney’s office has been investigating former president Donald Trump in connection with his alleged role in a hush money payment scheme and cover-up involving adult film star Stormy Daniels that dates to the 2016 presidential election.

The indictment by a New York grand jury was unsealed Tuesday, providing the public and Trump’s legal team with details about the charges against him for the first time. Trump on Tuesday pleaded not guilty to 34 felony criminal charges.

Here’s what we know about Trump’s indictment so far:

What’s in the indictment? The investigation by the Manhattan district attorney’s office began when Trump was still in the White House and relates to a $130,000 payment made by Trump’s then-personal attorney Michael Cohen to Daniels in late October 2016, days before the presidential election, to silence her from going public about an alleged affair with Trump a decade earlier. Trump has denied the affair.

Prosecutors on Tuesday alleged Trump was a part of an illegal conspiracy to undermine the integrity of the 2016 election. They allege he was part of an unlawful plan to suppress negative information, including the $130,000 payment.

The reason he committed the crime of falsifying business records was in part to “promote his candidacy,” prosecutors alleged. Trump is not charged with criminal conspiracy.

Each criminal charge Trump is facing relates to a specific entry among the business records of the Trump Organization, according to the indictment. Prosecutors accuse Trump of repeatedly causing false entries in the business records.

Former President Donald Trump appears in court with members of his legal team for an arraignment on charges stemming from his indictment by a Manhattan grand jury following a probe into hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels, in New York City on Tuesday.

Trump’s response: Trump was caught off guard by the grand jury’s decision to indict him, according to a person who spoke directly with him. While the former president was bracing for an indictment, he began to believe news reports that a potential indictment was weeks – or more – away. The former president has repeatedly denied wrongdoing in the matter and continued his attacks on Bragg and other Democrats following news of the indictment.

Next appearance: The next in-person hearing date for Trump’s case in New York is set for December 4 as of now.

Read more here.

Courtroom sketch artist Christine Cornell illustrated former US President Donald Trump in the Manhattan court for his historic arraignment. Trump personally pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.

An illustration shows Trump inside the Manhattan courtroom on April 4, 2023.

Meanwhile, sketch artist Elizabeth Williams documented the moment the court’s clerk read the charges.

Former President Donald Trump, far left, pleads not guilty as the Clerk of the Court reads the charges and asks him "How do you plea?" Tuesday, April 4, 2023, in a Manhattan courtroom in New York. Defense attorney Joseph Tacopina, center, looked on.

And sketch artist Jane Rosenberg sketched the former president sitting with his legal team.

Former President Donald Trump appears in court with his legal team for an arraignment on charges stemming from his indictment by a Manhattan grand jury following a probe into hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels, in New York City on April 4 in this courtroom sketch.

Donald Trump posted his reaction to his Tuesday arraignment on Truth Social, promoting his expected 8:15 p.m. ET remarks.

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance arrives at federal court for a hearing related to President Donald Trump's financial records on October 23, 2019, in New York City.

Cyrus Vance Jr., former Manhattan district attorney, told CNN’s Erin Burnett he thought the 34-count indictment against former President Donald Trump was “actually quite detailed.”

“It has quite a bit of detail about the history and laid out the facts underlying, then the various counts that are listed. So I thought that the indictment provided more detail than perhaps other expected,” Vance said.

The counts in an indictment are always fairly bare bones, Vance said, but the preparatory language before the counts that outlines the schemes is used to educate the public on the background of the facts.

Vance initially opened up the investigation against Trump around 2017, but did not bring charges. He told Burnett he was asked by federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York to stand down because the two offices had simultaneous investigations on Trump.

Newlyweds Carlos Giraldo and Galina Rusnak got married around the corner from where former President Donald Trump's arraignment took place in Lower Manhattan.

Newlyweds Carlos Giraldo and his bride Galina Rusnak stepped out from the New York City Marriage Bureau onto Worth Street in Manhattan, scaffolding shielding them from the sun Tuesday afternoon. 

Just a few dozen feet from them, crowds of people holding up cell phone cameras and members of the media stood behind police barricades for the departure of the motorcade taking America’s 45th president away from his historic criminal arraignment. 

As supporters of former President Donald Trump exchanged insults with anti-Trump demonstrators – separated by police — Giraldo noted there was none of that rancor inside the municipal marriage bureau. 

“Love was in the air. It did not feel like that inside,” he said.

Giraldo and his 36-year-old bride posed for a few pictures moments before Trump left the courthouse around the corner after pleading not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. The former president heard the charges against him stemming from a hush money payment to an adult film actress in 2016. 

“It’s our special day,” said Giraldo, who is registered as an independent voter. “And it’s important that the system that we live under works.” 

Sen. Mitt Romney speaks to reporters in the Senate subway on his way to a vote at the Capitol on March 14, in Washington, DC. 

Several lawmakers, both allies and critics of Donald Trump, have issued statements following the former president’s arraignment Tuesday.

Trump personally pleaded not guilty in a Manhattan court to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the first degree after hearing charges against him stemming from a hush money payment to an adult film actress in 2016.

Here’s how lawmakers are reacting:

GOP Sen. Mitt Romney, a sharp Trump critic, criticized what he called Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s overreach, and said it sets a “dangerous precedent.”

“I believe President Trump’s character and conduct make him unfit for office,” Romney said in a statement. “Even so, I believe the New York prosecutor has stretched to reach felony criminal charges in order to fit a political agenda. No one is above the law, not even former presidents, but everyone is entitled to equal treatment under the law. The prosecutor’s overreach sets a dangerous precedent for criminalizing political opponents and damages the public’s faith in our justice system.”

House GOP Chair Elise Stefanik, a key Trump ally, called Trump’s arrest “shameful,” adding that it would help him in his bid for the White House.

“President Trump continues to skyrocket in the polls, and just like with the Russia hoax and both sham impeachments, President Trump will defeat the latest witch-hunt, defeat Joe Biden, and will be sworn in as President of the United States in January 2025,” she said in a statement.

House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan tweeted, “equal justice under the law, unless you’re a Republican running for president,” after Trump was arraigned. 

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise retweeted Jordan’s post.

Trump ally Sen. Marsha Blackburn accused Bragg of being politically motivated in his investigation in a number of tweets today. In one tweet, Blackburn called Bragg a “radical left-wing activist abusing his power in an attempt to help Biden remain in office.”

GOP Sen. JD Vance tweeted that “Bragg’s entire career is about normalizing violent crime. Just crazy that he’s bringing this weak case in the middle of a presidential election.” The Ohio senator, who was once a Trump critic, has embraced Trump and already endorsed him in the 2024 presidential race. 

GOP Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, who is weighing a 2024 presidential run, slammed Bragg ahead of the indictment, saying that he “doesn’t prosecute criminals, yet weaponizes the law against his political enemies.”

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy accused Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg of seeking to interfere in the elections and said Congress will hold him accountable.

There has been no response from the top two Senate Republican leaders, including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Prosecutors said they unsealed the indictment against former President Donald Trump and gave a copy of it, along with the statement of facts, to Trump’s counsel around 1:30 p.m. ET when the former president arrived at the beginning of the arraignment.

Prosecutors said Trump was also fingerprinted at that time. The defense was given a copy of Trump’s fingerprint sheet during the proceeding. 

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg speaks at a press conference after the arraignment of former President Donald Trump in New York on Tuesday.

Former president Donald Trump personally signed checks to his former fixer Michael Cohen for nine months, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said Tuesday.

The grand jury found 34 documents that had this “critical false statement,” according to Bragg. 

He said “the evidence will show” Trump made these false statements “to cover up crimes relating to the 2016 election.”

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg touched on why his office moved forward with the indictment of former President Donald Trump for falsifying business records during a news conference Tuesday.

CNN legal analyst Elie Honig notes that the DA’s office will need to prove that Trump and his team falsified records with the intent of committing another crime in order for the charge to bump up from a misdemeanor to a felony.

“The core conduct that is charged in this indictment is the payment of hush money. Now, payment of hush money is not a crime. It’s not a federal crime. It’s not a state crime,” Honig explained.

The DA’s office is “relying on a state law that makes it, in the first instance, a misdemeanor to falsify business records. These are the repayments to Michael Cohen that were falsely logged within the Trump Organization as legal fees — when they were not legal fees. One of the complicated legal questions here is; in order to bump that up from a misdemeanor to a felony, you have to show that those records were falsified to commit some other crime. Some second crime,” Honig told CNN’s Anderson Cooper.

The DA’s office did mention federal and state campaign laws during his remarks, which Honig said, could be where more legal questions come up.

Honig also highlighted how the DA’s office did not say what that alleged second crime is, an issue the defense lawyers “rightly” complained about because the purpose of an indictment is to serve notice to the defendant on what they’re being charged with.

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Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg speaks at a press conference after the arraignment of former president Donald Trump in New York on Tuesday.

The indictment does not specify what laws Trump broke because “the law does not so require,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said when asked by reporters why there were no specifics in the indictment. 

Bragg then highlighted one law that Trump allegedly broke in the news conference Tuesday.

These include false statements, including statements that were planned to be made to tax authorities, according to Bragg.

Bragg also mentioned a violation of a federal election law cap on contribution limits.

The statement of facts documents how former President Donald Trump and his former attorney Michael Cohen’s relationship began to fall apart as the federal criminal investigation targeting Cohen spilled into public view.

“On or about April 21, 2018, the Defendant publicly commented on Twitter encouraging Lawyer A not to ‘flip,’” prosecutors wrote in their statement of facts.

According to the charging document, a lawyer emailed Cohen, asking him not to cooperate with law enforcement.

“You are making a very big mistake if you believe the stories these ‘journalists’ are writing about you. They want you to cave. They want you to fail. They do not want you to persevere and succeed,” the lawyer continued, according to the statement of facts. 

The day after Cohen pleaded guilty in his case, Trump tweeted criticisms of him, writing: “‘If anyone is looking for a good lawyer, I would strongly suggest that you don’t retain the services of Michael Cohen!’” the document said. 

Former President Donald Trump spoke at several points during Tuesday’s hearing when asked questions by Judge Juan Merchan, acknowledging he understood his rights and to enter his not guilty plea. 

Trump said “yes” several times to the judge and once said “I do” when asked if he understood the judge’s directions. 

Trump walked into the courtroom slowly, with his hands by his side and scanning the room. 

He sat staring straight ahead much of the time during the hearing, sporadically putting his elbows up on the table. He occasionally looked over at the prosecutors and listened to whispered comments from his attorney, Susan Necheles.  

Trump’s lawyers sought to waive Trump’s need to appear at the next hearing, saying the former president’s appearance came at a high cost to the city. 

Merchan said he was denying the request at this time, saying all defendants were expected to appear, “even high-profile defendants.” But he said he would reconsider the request if it was made again in the future.

When the hearing was over, Trump stood up slowly, and the court reporter sought to shake his hand before he left.

Former President Donald Trump was concerned affair allegations would negatively affect his chances to win the election, according to the statement of facts.

According to prosecutors, the editor-in-chief of the National Enquirer and AMI’s chief content officer learned of allegations five months before the 2016 presidential election that Trump had an extra-marital affair with Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal.

AMI agreed to pay McDougal $150,000 for her silence, according to the statement of facts, and to give McDougal “two magazine cover features” and “series of articles that would be published under her byline.”

The statement of facts also notes that AMI falsely characterized the $150,000 payment on their financial documents and sent Trump’s lawyer Michael Cohen regular updates.

In the statement of facts, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg alleges that former President Donald Trump orchestrated an “unlawful” scheme with others to “influence the 2016 presidential election” and that other participants in the scheme have admitted to “committing illegal conduct in connection with the scheme.” 

Specifically, the statement of facts references the guilty plea by ex-Trump lawyer Michael Cohen in the federal campaign finance case that was prosecuted in 2018 and to the admissions of AMI – the publisher of National Inquirer – in the non-prosecution agreement it reached in the federal investigation. 

Bragg is not charging Trump with a violation of election law or a conspiracy related to that alleged campaign-related conduct. However, falsifying business records – the charge Trump faces 34 counts of – is only a felony if the records were falsified with the intent to commit or conceal another crime. The indictment says that for all 34 counts, Trump had the “intent to defraud and intent to commit another crime and aid and conceal the commission thereof.”

Bragg alleged in his press conference Tuesday that the business records were falsified in 2017 with the intent of concealing criminal conduct connected to the 2016 campaign. He referenced a New York state law that makes it a crime to conspire to promote candidacy by unlawful means. 

The statement of facts says that the payment that Cohen (referred to as Lawyer A) made to Stormy Daniels (identified as Woman 2) were “illegal,” as Cohen has pleaded guilty to making an “illegal campaign contribution.” 

The statement of facts goes on to lay out how both Cohen and AMI have admitted in the court filings related to the federal case of having the intent of influencing the 2016 election with their participation in the scheme.

The statement of facts cautions in a footnote that it “does not contain all facts relevant to the charged conduct.” 

The statement of facts outlines how AMI, the parent company of the National Enquirer, worked to silence a former Trump World Tower doorman who claimed to have knowledge of an alleged affair between Trump and an ex-housekeeper.

According to court documents, AMI’s CEO David Pecker instructed his organization “to pay the Doorman $30,000 to acquire exclusive rights to the story.” AMI then allegedly “falsely characterized this payment” in their own records, including its general ledger.

AMI did not vet the story before purchasing, the statement of facts reads.

When they concluded the story was not true, AMI wanted to release the doorman from the agreement to keep the story under wraps, the statement of facts reads, but Michael Cohen “instructed the AMI CEO not to release the Doorman until after the presidential election.” 

Pecker allegedly complied with that request, the statement of facts reads.

Manhattan prosecutors have placed Donald Trump at the center of an alleged “catch and kill” scheme to suppress negative stories about himself during his candidacy, according to the statement of facts supporting the former president’s indictment.

In August 2015, shortly after announcing his candidacy for the presidency, Trump met at Trump Tower with his then-lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen and the CEO of the media company that owned the National Enquirer, prosecutors said.  

David Pecker is the former head of that company and testified recently before the Manhattan grand jury that voted to indict Trump. 

Pecker agreed to help Trump’s campaign and promised to act as the campaign’s “eyes and ears” by alerting Cohen to negative stories about the billionaire real-estate developer, prosecutors said.

Pecker, the statement of facts said, also agreed to publish negative stories about Trump’s political rivals. 

Former Donald Trump lawyer and loyalist Michael Cohen walks out of a Manhattan courthouse after testifying before a grand jury on March 13 in New York City. 

Former President Donald Trump hid reimbursement payments to Michael Cohen by marking monthly checks for “legal services,” according to the statement of facts, in a deal the two worked out in the Oval Office. 

“In early February 2017, the Defendant and Lawyer A met in the Oval Office at the White House and confirmed this repayment arrangement,” the statement of facts said referring to Cohen.

Trump personally signed checks reimbursing Cohen, his attorney at the time, for the hush-money payment made to adult film star Stormy Daniels, the statement of facts said.

The payment included $130,000 for Daniels in exchange for her signature on a non-disclosure agreement. 

He also allegedly agreed to pay Cohen $35,000 monthly for one year, prosecutors allege.

The document also detailed how two of the payments were made from a trust set up in Trump’s name, but nine subsequent ones, “corresponding to the months of April through December of 2017, were paid by the Defendant personally.”

The payments stopped after December 2017, according to the document.  

Former President Donald Trump’s plane took off from New York’s LaGuardia Airport shortly after 4 p.m. ET, ending a whirlwind 24 hours culminating in Trump personally pleading not guilty to the 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree.

Trump now heads back to his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida, where he is expected to deliver remarks later tonight. 

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg speaks during a press conference following the arraignment of former President Donald Trump on April 4.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said at a news conference Tuesday that his office uncovered “additional evidence” that was not in their possession prior to his time as district attorney related to the case against former President Donald Trump.

Speaking about the timing of the charges — and his predecessor’s decision not to bring charges against Trump in this case — Bragg said “I don’t bring cases prior to a thorough and rigorous investigation.”

“Now, having done so, the case has been brought,” Bragg said.

“I’ve been doing this for 24 years, and I’m no stranger to rigorous complex investigations,” the DA noted.

Bragg said that the state of New York in particular has a “profound interest” in cases involving false business statements because it is the “business capital of the world.”

Participants in the alleged illegal hush-money scheme, including Michael Cohen, admitted payoffs to the two women were unlawful, according to the statement of facts released Tuesday.

In late 2018, American Media, Inc., the publisher of the National Enquirer, entered into a non-prosecution agreement with the Southern District of New York’s US Attorney’s office relating to paying Karen McDougal for her story about Trump, the statement of facts said. 

AMI told authorities they never intended to publish McDougal’s story and made the payment to McDougal so that she “did not publicize damaging allegations” about Donald Trump “before the 2016 presidential election and thereby influence that election,” according to the statement of facts. 

The document also cites Cohen’s federal guilty plea, which said Cohen worked at the direction of Trump to arrange payment for the two women, McDougal and Stormy Daniels, to stop stories that could be harmful to Trump. 

After winning the presidential election, Donald Trump privately thanked then-AMI CEO David Pecker for “handling” salacious stories that arose in the weeks before votes were cast, according to the statement of facts.

“Between Election Day and Inauguration Day, during the period of the Defendant’s transition to his role as President, the Defendant met with the AMI CEO privately in Trump Tower in Manhattan,” the statement of facts says, referring to Pecker.

Trump thanked Pecker for “handling” Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal’s affair allegations and a story from a former Trump World Tower doorman who claimed to have knowledge of an alleged affair between Trump and an ex-housekeeper which resulted in a child. He also invited Pecker to attend the 2017 inauguration.

In the summer of 2017, according to the statement of facts, Trump also invited Pecker to the White House for a dinner to “thank him for his help during the campaign.” 

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg speaks during a press conference following the arraignment of former President Donald Trump on Tuesday.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg spoke following former President Donald Trump’s Tuesday arraignment.

“Under New York State law, it is a felony to falsify business records with intent to defraud and intent to conceal another crime. That is exactly what this case is about: 34 false statements made to cover up other crimes. These are felony crimes in New York state,” he said.  

Bragg added that the former president is being held to the same standard to anyone who has committed a white collar crime.

“True and accurate business records are important everywhere to be sure. They are all the more important in Manhattan — the financial center of the world. That is why we have a history in the Manhattan DA’s office of vigorously enforcing white collar crime,” Bragg said.

The DA’s office has “charged hundreds of felony falsifying business records. This charge, can be said, is the bread and butter of our white collar work,” he said.

Bragg added that Trump’s case at its core, “is one with allegations like so many of our white collar cases,” and that the former president is not above the law.

Earlier today, Trump pleaded not guilty in a Manhattan court to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the first degree after hearing charges against him stemming from a hush money payment to an adult film actress in 2016.

Manhattan prosecutors say checks were cut monthly — including some coming directly from Donald Trump’s bank account — to his then-lawyer Michael Cohen. They allege these were disguised as attorney payments when they were not.

In a statement of facts supporting the indictment, prosecutors described a “catch and kill scheme” to suppress negative stories about Donald Trump – “in furtherance of his candidacy for President.” 

It also noted that two parties engaged in the scheme have already “admitted to committing illegal conduct in connection with the scheme.” Those parties are former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, who is described as “Lawyer A” in the statement of facts, and American Media Inc., the owner of the National Enquirer tabloid.

Specifically, the statement notes, that AMI had admitted that it made a payment to a source of a story to ensure the source “did not publicize damaging allegations” about Trump “before the 2016 election and thereby influence that election.”

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is holding a news conference following former President Donald Trump’s arraignment earlier Tuesday.

Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 felony criminal charges of falsifying business in the first degree.

Prosecutors alleged Trump was part of an unlawful plan to suppress negative information, including an illegal payment of $130,000 that was ordered by the defendant to suppress the negative information that would hurt his campaign.

Bragg, a former New York state and federal prosecutor, has remained tight-lipped on the details of the Trump probe into a hush money scheme, which he inherited from his predecessor, Cy Vance, who began the investigation when Trump was still in the White House.

The indictment against Trump was unsealed Tuesday.

Prosecutors said in court Tuesday they intend for former adult film actress Stormy Daniels to be a witness in their case against former President Donald Trump.

CNN correspondent Kara Scannell described what it was like inside the courtroom today, including that prosecutors handed the judge a packet of former President Donald Trump’s social media posts.

Prosecutors said Trump was threatening the city, the justice system, the courts and the district attorney’s office with his “irresponsible” social media posts, specifically citing Trump’s sharing of an article that showed a photo of himself with a baseball bat. 

Trump’s attorneys responded that Trump has First Amendment rights and said Trump was expressing his frustration with alleged illegal leaks from the district attorney’s office. Trump’s lawyers also claimed that Trump’s social media posts were not threatening. 

Judge Juan Merchan acknowledged Trump’s right to free speech but warned both sides not to incite violence or civil unrest with words or actions.  

Merchan said that if he was shown more social media posts, he’d have to take a closer look at it.  

Neither side made a request for a gag order, and Merchan said they were nowhere near the need for one yet. 

He advised them to “tamp down the rhetoric” and “particularly speaking to former President Trump, not to make any statements that would incite any violence or threats against any officials,” according to Scannell.  

The arraignment lasted about 45 minutes, Scannell said. Inside the room, “it was so quiet, you could hear a pin drop.”

Trump spoke only a few times when entering his not guilty plea.

“The prosecutors said that this was part of a conspiracy that started in 2015 and involves the payment of at least $130,000 to Stormy Daniels,” she said.

“As part of the allegations, prosecutors said that this was part of an effort to promote his candidacy by burying negative stories ahead of the election. And now, we don’t have all the additional details of what else might be included in this, but that is how they outlined it in court,” Scannell reported.

About 60 members of the press were inside the courtroom, but they were not allowed to have any electronic devices.

Each criminal charge Donald Trump is facing relates to a specific entry among the business records of the Trump Organization, according to the indictment.  

The Manhattan prosecutors accuse Trump of repeatedly causing false entries in the business records. 

The alleged false entries are related to invoices from Michael Cohen, the “Detail General Ledger for Donald J. Trump” and his trust, or to Donald J. Trump’s account checks. Those records are all kept by the Trump Organization, according to the indictment. 

All of the entries are identified as being made in 2017, the indictment says. 

According to court documents, the editor-in-chief and CEO of the National Enquirer approached Michael Cohen shortly after the Access Hollywood tape became public in October 2016, and told Cohen that adult film star Stormy Daniels was claiming she had an affair with Donald Trump. 

Cohen, the document says, negotiated a hush-money payment with Daniels to “secure [Daniels’] silence and prevent disclosure of the damaging information in the final weeks before the presidential election.” 

Trump, however, allegedly instructed Cohen to hold off paying Daniels for as long as possible. 

Some background: Cohen pleaded guilty to nine federal crimes including tax fraud, lying to Congress and campaign finance violations for helping pay off two women who threatened to go public with past alleged affairs with Trump just before the 2016 election. Trump has denied the affairs.

Clarification: This story has been updated to clarify where prosecutors made allegations against Trump regarding the 2016 election. It was in court documents.

Donald Trump's attorney Todd Blanche, center, speaks to the media after the arraignment on Tuesday.

Speaking outside court after the arraignment, Donald Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche said that his client is “frustrated” and “upset.”

Blanche accused the prosecutor in this case of turning a “completely political issue” into a “political prosecution.” 

He referred to the indictment as “boilerplate” and claimed it “doesn’t allege any federal crime and state crime that’s been violated.”

On the charges against Trump, Blanche said “we’re going to fight it, fight it hard.”

The next in-person hearing date for former President Donald Trump’s case is set for December 4 in New York as of now.

Prosecutors alleged former President Donald Trump was a part of an illegal conspiracy to undermine the integrity of the 2016 election.

Prosecutors alleged Trump was part of an unlawful plan to suppress negative information, including an illegal payment of $130,000 that was ordered by the defendant to suppress the negative information that would hurt his campaign. 

The reason he committed the crime of falsifying business records was in part to “promote his candidacy,” the prosecutor alleges.  

Trump is not charged with criminal conspiracy.

Trump’s voice was measured. He walked in slowly scanning the reporters in the courtroom. He looked at the judge when he was speaking. 

Clarification: This story has been updated to clarify where prosecutors made allegations against Trump regarding the 2016 election. It was in court documents.

The historic indictment against former President Donald Trump has been unsealed and is now public. 

Prosecutors alleged Trump was part of an unlawful plan to suppress negative information, including an illegal payment of $130,000 that was ordered by the defendant to suppress the negative information that would hurt his campaign. 

The reason he committed the crime of falsifying business records was in part to “promote his candidacy,” the indictment alleges.  

This is the first time Trump and his lawyers can fully examine the extent of the charges against him, and what prosecutors must prove at trial. 

The criminal charges stem from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation into hush-money payments, made during the 2016 presidential campaign, to women who claimed they had extramarital affairs with Trump, which he denies. 

Trump denies all wrongdoing and his lawyers have said they’ll fight to get the charges dropped.  

Read the full indictment here:

Former President Donald Trump has left a Manhattan courtroom after his arraignment Tuesday.

He made no statement while leaving the courtroom. After leaving the courtroom, Trump left the building and got into his motorcade parked outside.

The former president pleaded not guilty to 34 counts, a source tells CNN.

Former President Donald Trump appeared in court Tuesday and pleaded not guilty to 34 criminal charges against him.

The historic indictment against Trump has been unsealed. It’s the first time that a current or former US president has been criminally charged.

The Manhattan district attorney’s office has been investigating Trump’s alleged role in a hush money payment scheme and cover-up involving adult film star Stormy Daniels that dates to the 2016 presidential campaign.

Trump has repeatedly denied wrongdoing in the matter and accused Democrats of targeting him politically.

See images from inside the court:

Former President Donald Trump sits in a Manhattan courtroom with his defense team on Tuesday, April 4.

Trump walks through the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse on Tuesday.

Trump's motorcade drives to the courthouse on Tuesday.

Trump leaves Trump Tower in New York before heading to the courthouse on Tuesday.

The indictment returned last week by a grand jury against former President Donald Trump has been unsealed, according to a source.

Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 criminal charges against him in a Manhattan criminal court Tuesday afternoon, a source familiar with the matter tells CNN.

The investigation stemmed from a hush money payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Trump officially became the first former president to face criminal charges Tuesday when he’s arraigned Tuesday.

Former US President Donald Trump appears in court with members of his legal team.

Former President Donald Trump personally pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the first degree in a Manhattan court after hearing charges against him.

The charges stem from an investigation into a hush money payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Former President Donald Trump sits at the defense table with his defense team in a Manhattan court.

Before entering the courtroom, former President Donald Trump did not make a statement — something some advisers had expected him to do.

Griffin said his lack of a statement could also signify that “the attorneys are likely at odds with the comms advisers.”

Advisers told CNN earlier Tuesday that the former president planned to deliver one brief line before heading inside of the courtroom. He is expected to speak to the cameras in the hallway outside of the Manhattan courtroom after his arraignment, according to one of Trump’s lawyers, Chris Kise.

Details about the more than 30 charges Trump is facing will be revealed when the grand jury indictment is unsealed.

Former President Donald Trump sits at the defense table with his defense team in a Manhattan court, Tuesday, April 4, 2023, in New York. 

This photo shows former President Donald Trump flanked by his attorneys inside Manhattan Criminal Court.

Remember: News outlets will not be allowed to broadcast the arraignment, a judge ruled Monday night, but five still photographers are allowed to take photos ahead of the proceedings.

The glass doors in Manhattan Criminal Court that former President Donald Trump and his lawyer briefly emerged from aren’t normally blacked out like they are currently.

It is another one of the extra security measures being taken today. 

Former US President Donald Trump makes his way inside the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse in New York on April 4.

Donald Trump — the first former president in history to face criminal charges — has entered a New York courtroom to be arraigned and is expected to plead not guilty.

Details about the more than 30 charges he is facing will be revealed when the grand jury indictment is unsealed. The indictment stems from an investigation related to a hush money payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Remember: News outlets will not be able to broadcast the arraignment live, a judge said Monday night, rejecting a request from several media organizations, including CNN.

Five still photographers, however, will be allowed to take pictures of Trump and the courtroom before the hearing begins.

 Watch here:

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President Joe Biden speaks to the media as he walks to Marine One prior to departure from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, on March 31, as he travels to Mississippi to view tornado damage before going to Delaware for the weekend.

President Joe Biden is aware of his predecessor’s arraignment and will “obviously” catch the news, the White House said Tuesday, but emphasized that it is “not his focus.”

“Look, the president’s going to focus on the American people like he does every day. This is not something that is a focus for him. He is going to focus on things like making sure we continue to lower prices for the American people,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in response to a question from CNN’s MJ Lee.  

Biden is set to meet with his Council of Advisors on Science and Technology this afternoon for a conversation on artificial intelligence as former President Trump’s arraignment takes place in Manhattan. 

Jean-Pierre declined to comment on the specifics of the case, but reiterated that Biden was “not given a heads up” on the indictment and was briefed by White House chief of staff Jeff Zients on the developments as they were reported in the media. 

Biden has repeatedly declined to comment on the case, but told CNN on Monday in Minnesota that he has faith in the New York Police Department and responded affirmatively when asked if he has faith in the legal system.

Former President Donald Trump waves as he steps out of his vehicle before entering New York Criminal Court on Tuesday.

Former President Donald Trump posted to Truth Social as he was en route to the Manhattan district attorney’s office and courthouse ahead of his arraignment, writing:

Former President Donald Trump has arrived at the Manhattan district attorney’s office in lower Manhattan, where he is under arrest and in police custody before his upcoming arraignment. 

Soon, Trump is expected to be brought to a courtroom, where he will be arraigned.

Here’s a look at the key players involved in this unprecedented moment in US history:

Donald Trump is in police custody at the Manhattan district attorney’s office ahead of his arraignment in court today where he will officially become the first current or former US president in history to face criminal charges.

Although many details around his arraignment in New York are still unclear, this is what we know about how the rest of the events are expected to go:

Former President Donald Trump leaves Trump Tower to head to the New York Criminal Court where he will be arraigned on charges on Tuesday.

Former President Donald Trump has arrived at the district attorney’s office in lower Manhattan, where he is under arrest and in police custody before his upcoming arraignment. 

Trump is expected to be fingerprinted as part of the arrest, though it’s still unclear whether his mugshot will be taken. He will next be brought to a courtroom, where he will be arraigned — an appearance that is expected to be quick and routine but represents a surreal and historic moment in US history. 

Trump is not expected to be handcuffed following his arrest, as he will remain under constant law enforcement protection. 

Former President Donald Trump waves as he arrives at the Manhattan Criminal Court on Tuesday.

Former President Donald Trump is arriving at the Manhattan district attorney’s office where he is expected to surrender before arraignment on a grand jury indictment.

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Former President Donald Trump departs from Trump Tower on Tuesday.

As his legal team navigated the logistics of his arraignment, former President Donald Trump privately expressed an interest in having his mugshot taken, even as others said it was unlikely that would ultimately happen when he’s inside the Manhattan Criminal Court building, according to two sources. 

Trump and his team have viewed today’s legal proceeding through the lens of a way to benefit his 2024 campaign. They have bragged about fundraising and deliberated about merchandise options. A picture of the former president’s booking was seen as a benefit to some for that.  

As he prepares to leave his namesake Trump Tower any minute, it’s not just the Manhattan Criminal Court that is on Donald Trump’s mind today.

His conversations with political advisers and his legal team this morning have also included a pending case in Georgia and two federal probes in Washington — all of which will be a soundtrack of his 2024 campaign. 

These cases, taken together, could dominate the rest of the primary season.

“It will be a constant rallying cry for his supporters,” a Trump political adviser tells CNN.

While he has trumpeted the short term political benefit from the indictment — repeatedly touting claims of $8 million raised in the last four days — Trump also has expressed a sense of apprehension about what’s to come this afternoon and beyond — the legal system is something he holds far less control over than the political arena.

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Some in former President Donald Trump’s inner circle are worried that today could be just the first in a series of indictments.

“I could very easily see a situation where you have cascading indictments,” one Trump source said. 

Republican lawmakers and rival 2024 candidates have bashed the New York indictment as a political prosecution. But with Trump facing two federal probes into his handing of classified documents and January 6, as well as a criminal probe in Georgia, some of Trump’s allies said they are less certain whether the drumbeat of support would withstand charges in multiple cases.

It may not be a long wait to see if Trump will face charges in other investigations. Charging decisions in Georgia could come as soon as this spring, CNN has reported. And the Justice Department is taking steps indicative of an investigation that’s wrapping up in the Mar-a-Lago documents probe. 

There’s a rip-off-the-band-aid factor to today’s New York arrest and arraignment of Former President Donald Trump.

It’s an intangible aspect that Justice Department officials have long thought eventually federal prosecutors would confront: Would they be the first to charge a former president with a crime?

Now, New York City prosecutors have done it. 

Justice officials say Special Counsel Jack Smith won’t be swayed by the case brought by the New York District Attorney. 

The cases are separate and won’t be affected by today’s unprecedented events, officials say.

In appointing Smith, Attorney General Merrick Garland said he expected investigators “to make decisions indisputably guided only by the facts and the law.”

There are growing indications that Smith and his team are nearing a crucial point in their classified documents investigation, which could include possible charges of illegal retention of national security documents and obstruction of justice. 

As with any prosecution, Smith will have to weigh his discretion on whether the charges are appropriate. 

One factor that won’t have to be weighed: Being the first to charge the former president with a crime.

Former President Donald Trump plans to deliver brief comments — one short line, advisers tell CNN — before he enters the Manhattan courtroom this afternoon.

While his aides said they hope that is the extent of his remarks until tonight when he speaks at Mar-a-Lago, they note that he could chart his own course.

CNN reported earlier that advisers have urged him to hold off until he has the command of his own ballroom tonight, where hundreds of his supporters, surrogates and friends are expected to gather. Advisers have also warned Trump that any unplanned remarks put him at high risk of hurting his case. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago speech is expected to have legal eyes on it before he delivers it tonight.

Trump has spent the morning on the phone with Republican allies, his tight circle of political advisers and his legal team, with an intensifying focus on what specific charges are contained in the sealed indictment. He cannot fully assess the political or legal road ahead until he learns just what, specifically, is in the indictment.

As he prepares to leave the Trump Tower shortly after lunchtime today, the former president will lose a measure of control that he has wielded over every political battle, tabloid scandal and business dealing for decades in Manhattan. After he surrenders – even in his defiance and not guilty plea – he will be a criminal defendant, something he has spent a lifetime trying to avoid.

CNN’s Kaitlan Collins and Kristen Holmes contributed reporting to this post.

Protesters outside the courthouse building where later today Trump will be arraigned in New York on Tuesday.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ office reiterated that there are no credible threats ahead of former President Donald Trump’s arraignment today.

Fabien Levy, a spokesperson for the mayor’s office, said Adams’ earlier statements still stand.

At a news conference Monday, Adams told reporters there were no credible threats ahead of the arraignment and that the NYPD remained poised to respond to any situation.

“While there may be some rabble rousers thinking about coming to our city tomorrow, our message is clear and simple: Control yourselves,” he said.

Former President Donald Trump’s scheduled arraignment have calmed the streets of Manhattan’s civic center. But just about a block away, dozens of immigrants stood outside the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) district office in Federal Plaza, looking anxious and confused.

Many had immigration interviews and other matters scheduled for Tuesday and were now finding out that the USCIS offices were closed because of security threats related to the Trump proceedings.

Some marveled at the irony that a politician and former president known for his anti-immigrant stance had once again managed to interject himself into their lives, even on the day of his arrest on criminal charges.

“Trump is paying for his actions but that does not make me happy,” said Gloria, a 52-year-old undocumented migrant from Bosa, Colombia, who had an interview scheduled Tuesday for a political asylum claim. “Who am I to judge him? I did the right thing. I’m here for my hearing and I’m being turned away.”

She arrived in New York one month ago after crossing the border from Mexico to San Diego, she said. Gloria did not want to her full name used, saying her family has been targeted by gang violence back home and she fears that speaking publicly about their plight could hurt her asylum claim. 

Security guards outside the USCIS district office turned away people showing up for appointments. Among them was an 8-year-old girl from China who was present with her immigration attorney Adam Kopchian.

He implored the security guards to let him in with his client so they can show they appeared. “This interview is very important to her,” Kopchian said.

But they were turned away by one security guard, who said, “there is no one in the building,” and cited security threats. Frustrated, Kopchian walked back to his office with the girl and her mother.

“They’re not attorneys and they don’t represent USCIS,” Kopchian said of the security guards.

The immigrants outside the district office were handed sheets of paper instructing them to reschedule their interviews online. CNN is seeking comment from USCIS.

Judge Juan Merchan is pictured in his office in New York County Criminal Court on October 21, 2022.

When Donald Trump enters a New York courtroom on Tuesday, he’ll face a seasoned judge who is no stranger to the former president’s orbit: Acting New York Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan.

He has sentenced Trump’s close confident Allen Weisselberg to prison, presided over the Trump Organization tax fraud trial and overseen former adviser Steve Bannon’s criminal fraud case.

But Trump’s historic arraignment on Tuesday will perhaps be Merchan’s most high-profile case to date, even after a long career atop the state-level trial court.

Merchan has been described by observers as a “tough” judge, yet one who is fair, no matter who is before him.

Here are key things to know about the judge:

“A man of his word”: Trump is already fanning the flames on social media with his views on Merchan and his indictment. But attorneys who have appeared before him told CNN that the judge doesn’t stand for disruptions or delays.

Judge Merchan “was clear in signaling his judicial inclinations, which helped me tremendously in giving Mr. Weisselberg informed legal advice. Judge Merchan was always well-prepared, accessible, and – most importantly in the Weisselberg matter – a man of his word. He treated me and my colleagues with the utmost respect, both in open court and behind closed doors,” Nicholas Gravante, the attorney who represented Weisselberg in his plea, said via email.

“Tough” but “compassionate”: Merchan showed some of his tough side when Weisselberg was sentenced, telling the former Trump associate that if he had not already promised him a five-month sentence, he would have handed him a “much greater” sentence after having listened to evidence at trial.

In addition to the Trump cases, Merchan also handed a 25-years-to-life sentence to a Senegalese man who raped and murdered his girlfriend.

In this courtroom sketch Judge Juan Merchan presides during the Trump Organization's criminal tax trial in Manhattan Criminal Court, on November 15, 2022.

Trump attorney Timothy Parlatore said during an interview Friday on CNN that Merchan was “not easy” on him when he tried a case before him, but echoed that the judge likely will be fair.

Merchan, however, is also credited by his peers for having helped create the Manhattan Mental Health Court, which he often presides over and where he has earned a reputation for “compassionate” rulings that give defendants second chances.

Still, Earl Ward, a trial attorney and chair of public defender nonprofit The Bronx Defenders, said that having watched Merchan preside over cases in the Mental Health Court, the judge often sided with prosecutors.

His background: Born in Bogotá, Colombia, Merchan emigrated to the United States at the age of 6 and grew up in the New York City neighborhood of Jackson Heights, Queens, according to a New York Times profile of the judge. He was the first in his family to go to college. He received his law degree from Hofstra University.

Merchan launched his legal career in 1994 as an assistant district attorney in the trial division in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. Several years later, he moved on to the state attorney general’s office, where he worked on cases in Long Island. In 2006, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, then a Republican, appointed Merchan to Family Court in the Bronx, and Democratic Gov. David Paterson appointed him to the New York State Court of Claims in 2009 — the same year he began serving as an acting New York Supreme Court Judge.

CNN’s Kara Scannell and Lauren del Valle contributed to reporting in the post.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene speaks outside Manhattan Criminal Courthouse on Tuesday, April 4.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican from Georgia, spent approximately 10 minutes at the rally she had called for across from the courthouse where former President Donald Trump is expected to be arraigned.

When she arrived, Greene told CNN that she was there “to be with the people that have come to peacefully protest.”

The Republican firebrand spoke on a bullhorn for a brief time before departing.

Demonstrators on both sides were observed shouting at each other and community affairs officers were trying to break them up.

While crowds remain chanting in the park, the masses have thinned out a bit.

During a Monday news conference on security preparations ahead of Trump’s court appearance, New York City Mayor Eric Adams specifically mentioned Greene’s plans to appear in New York.

Adams called Greene a lawmaker “known to spread misinformation and hate speech” and told her to “be on your best behavior” while in the city.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene appears at a rally outside the courthouse building where former President Donald Trump will be arraigned.

GOP Rep. George Santos from New York, who was also there, defended taking part in the pro-Trump rally.

“Say what you want, I showed up what about you? #TrumpArraignment,” Santos tweeted.

CNN’s Kristina Sgueglia and Nicky Robertson contributed reporting to this post.

Donald Trump will officially become the first former president to face criminal charges Tuesday when he’s arraigned in a New York courtroom – an appearance that is expected to be quick and routine but represents a surreal and historic moment in US history.

Trump is set to arrive at the courthouse in downtown Manhattan Tuesday afternoon, where his arrest will be processed by the district attorney’s office and he will be brought to the courtroom to hear the charges against him.

Here is what it looks like outside the courthouse and Trump Tower:

Police officers secure the perimeter outside Manhattan Criminal Court on Tuesday morning, April 4.

Members of the media work outside the court house morning.

A supporter of former US President Donald Trump yells outside Manhattan Criminal Courthouse on the day of Trump's appearance.

A New York City police K9 unit patrols near Trump Tower.

Lucas Camp, 32, from New York, holds a sign outside of Trump Tower where former President Donald Trump is staying, on April 4.

See more photos here on Trump’s indictment.

From left to right: Susan Necheles, Todd Blanche and Joe Tacopina. 

Former President Donald Trump is expected to appear in a Manhattan court to be arraigned on criminal charges later today.

Here’s the team of attorneys expected to accompany him to his arraignment:

Two of his senior advisers are also expected to be in attendance — Boris Epshteyn and Jason Miller, two sources familiar said.

However, the team is still finalizing plans and there may still be changes.  

Donald Trump’s videographer traveled with him from Florida to New York to document the behind the scenes of the former president’s surrender, according to two sources familiar with the plans, further indicating that Trump’s team plans to use this for his political advantage.

The videographer is expected to follow him to the courthouse but it is unclear what he will be allowed to film, given the court’s restrictions.

A judge ruled Monday that news outlets will not be allowed to broadcast the arraignment, but still photographers may take pictures before the hearing begins.

The “Meet Our Team” page that was active as of Friday on the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office website is no longer working. 

The page provided biographies of some of the top prosecutors under District Attorney Alvin Bragg. A visit to the page Tuesday indicated it was “not found.” 

Former President Donald Trump has called for protests and has personally verbally attacked Bragg in recent weeks as the indictment appeared imminent. 

Members of the media stand outside the Manhattan District Attorney's office in New York City on Monday, April 3.

News outlets will not be allowed to broadcast former President Donald Trump’s arraignment today in a New York state court, a judge said Monday night, but he will allow some photographers to take pictures in the courtroom before the proceedings formally begin.

Acting New York Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan rejected the request by several media organizations, including CNN, for permission to broadcast the historic proceedings. Trump’s arraignment — like most arraignments in the Manhattan courthouse — is a public proceeding, but news cameras are not usually allowed to broadcast from inside the courtroom.

However, the judge is allowing five pool photographers to take still photos at the beginning of the proceedings “until such time as they are directed to vacate the jury box by court personnel.”

Earlier on Monday, Trump’s lawyers urged the judge to reject the media’s request for live cameras in the courtroom. The Manhattan District Attorney’s office told the judge they didn’t have a position. 

The media outlets that tried to get cameras into the courtroom argued that “the gravity of this proceeding … and, consequently, the need for the broadest possible public access, cannot be overstated.” 

In his Monday night order, Merchan wrote that the media’s request to broadcast the arraignment was understandable, but that the news organizations’ interests in providing the broadest possible access to the proceedings must be weighed against “competing interests.”

In rejecting the request to broadcast the arraignment live on television, Merchan still wrote about the historical significance of the proceeding in stark terms. 

Former President Donald Trump arrives at Trump Tower in New York on Monday, April 3. 

Donald Trump will officially become the first former president to face criminal charges Tuesday when he’s arraigned in a New York courtroom – an appearance that is expected to be quick and routine but represents a surreal and historic moment in US history.

Trump is set to arrive at the courthouse in downtown Manhattan Tuesday afternoon, where his arrest will be processed by the district attorney’s office and he will be brought to the courtroom to hear the charges against him.

News outlets will not be able to broadcast the arraignment live, a judge said Monday night, rejecting a request from several media organizations, including CNN. Five still photographers, however, will be allowed to take pictures of Trump and the courtroom before the hearing begins.

The indictment returned last week by a grand jury against Trump is also expected to be unsealed Tuesday, providing the public – and Trump’s legal team – with the first details about the specific charges he will face. The investigation stemmed from a hush money payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Trump is not expected to speak while in New York, but he is slated to fly back to Florida following his court appearance, and he will hold an event at Mar-a-Lago Tuesday evening that gives the 2024 Republican presidential hopeful a chance to respond to the charges.

While Trump’s comments will signal how he intends to fight the charges against him in the political arena, the former president is also preparing for the fight in court: He added a new attorney, Todd Blanche, to serve as lead counsel on his defense team on Monday.

What we expect in today’s proceedings: Trump will be accompanied throughout the day by the Secret Service. His arrest will be processed in the district attorney’s office, where he will be fingerprinted. It’s still unclear if a mugshot will be taken, sources told CNN, as there are concerns that it could leak out.

Trump will be taken through back hallways and elevators to the courthouse, which is in the same building as the district attorney’s office. He will walk through a public hallway to the courtroom where he will be arraigned.

CNN’s Tierney Sneed contributed reporting to this post.

Donald Trump's attorney Chris Kise arrives at Brooklyn Federal Court on September 20, 2022, in New York.

A lawyer for former President Donald Trump said he expects Trump to speak to the cameras in the hallway outside of the Manhattan courtroom before and after his Tuesday arraignment. 

Chris Kise, one of Trump’s lawyers, said he met with Trump last night at Trump Tower. 

“The president is resilient, upbeat, and is as determined as ever to fight off drivers of injustice,” Kise said. 

This morning lawyers with the district attorney’s office and Trump’s team are ironing out details of a protective order to cover the documents that will be turned over in the case. 

Kise said that Todd Blanche “is a great addition” to the legal team. There are questions as to whether Joe Tacopina, another attorney, is being replaced on the team. 

Kise said Tacopina will have his hands full defending Trump at the battery and defamation trial brought by former magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll that starts later this month. 

“Joe’s a great lawyer. He’s got to focus on a trial starting in two weeks,” Kise said.

While there is currently a draft of the speech former President Donald Trump will deliver at Mar-a-Lago tonight, advisers do not expect it to be finalized until after his arraignment this afternoon, a source familiar said.

Advisers are continuing to tweak the remarks, and Trump is currently expected to review and revise the speech on his flight back to Florida this evening.

Former President Donald Trump arrives at Trump Tower on Monday, April 3, in New York.

Former President Donald Trump, who spent last night at Trump Tower in New York City ahead of his arraignment today, is eager to speak publicly about his indictment, according to multiple people familiar with his thinking. 

Though he is not scheduled to speak until he arrives at Mar-a-Lago tonight, Trump has weighed saying something while still in Manhattan. He had initially considered doing so outside the courthouse but decided against that because of security considerations.

It remains unclear if he will talk while in New York, and advisers have urged him to hold off until he has the command of his own ballroom tonight, where hundreds of his supporters, surrogates and friends are expected to gather.

Advisers have warned Trump that any unplanned remarks put him at high risk of hurting his case. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago speech is expected to have legal eyes on it before he delivers it tonight. 

But Trump is itching to make his case publicly as he continues to lash out at the Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. 

Joe Tacopina holds a press conference in Chester, Pennsylvania, in 2017.

Donald Trump’s arraignment today in Manhattan will likely be “a typical processing, which doesn’t take long, 20-30 minutes,” his attorney Joe Tacopina told ABC’s Good Morning America, adding that the former president will be “processed the way anyone else would.”

Discussions between the Trump legal team and prosecutors have been “about certain procedural things, but nothing substantially about the indictment,” Tacopina said. 

“I don’t think this case is going to see a jury. I think it’s going to go away on papers,” he added.

In terms of other limitations placed on Trump, Tacopina said: “There’s no indication that there’ll be a gag order. It can’t happen in this case.”

Former President Donald Trump looks on during a rally in Waco, Texas, on March 25.

An ex-president who’s always on the attack will no longer be the sole orchestrator of his fate.

When Donald Trump officially becomes a criminal defendant on Tuesday, he’ll be subject to a legal system he can’t control.

Trump has long conjured political storms, alternative realities, legal imbroglios and media spectacles to blur the truth or discredit institutions that have constrained his rule-busting behavior. He’ll lose that ability when he steps before the court at his arraignment in a case related to a hush money payment to an adult film actress.

And there are increasing signs that this new reality – which will come with hefty financial commitments in legal fees and locks on Trump’s calendar – could be multiplied at a time when he’s already facing the intense demands of another White House bid.

That’s because the ex-president – the first to face criminal charges – also appears to face serious problems in a potentially more perilous case involving his alleged mishandling of secret documents being investigated by special counsel Jack Smith. Charges look like an increasing possibility as the Justice Department secures evidence about Trump’s handling of classified documents after leaving the White House.

Smith’s prosecutors have secured daily notes, texts, emails and photographs and are focused on cataloguing how Trump handled classified records around Mar-a-Lago and those who may have witnessed the former president with them, CNN’s Katelyn Polantz and Evan Perez reported Monday. The new details coincide with signs the Justice Department is taking steps consistent with the end of an investigation.

Trump’s former lawyer, Ty Cobb, told CNN that the developments represent a serious turn in the case for the ex-president. “We’ve known the investigatory steps were under way, we just haven’t known alleged results until today,” Cobb said. “I think these are highly consequential.”

The documents case may not be the end of it. Smith is also investigating Trump’s conduct in the run-up to the US Capitol insurrection. Then there’s also a possible prosecution in Georgia led by a district attorney probing the ex-president’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election result in the swing state.

Trump denies any wrongdoing in all of these investigations. He has described his behavior in Georgia as “perfect.” And he has lambasted the sealed indictment in New York, where he faces more than 30 counts related to business fraud, as an example of politicized justice.

But at a grave moment for the country, given that an ex-president and current presidential candidate is about to appear in court, there’s also growing sense of inexorably building pressure on Trump that will compromise his capacity to evade accountability.

Keep reading here.

CNN’s Katelyn Polantz contributed reporting to this post.

Joe Tacopina appears on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Former President Donald Trump’s legal team will look to challenge “every potential issue” in his indictment once the charges are unsealed, an attorney for the former president told CNN Sunday.

Tacopina and other Trump lawyers have done several TV interviews in anticipation of the former president’s first appearance in court Tuesday, when he will learn the charges that the Manhattan grand jury has approved against him.

At times, the lawyers have vowed to ask for the charges to be dismissed. But the full slate of charges still aren’t known. And crucially, a judge will ultimately determine if the law is sound enough for the case to move forward to trial.

Former Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance said in an interview with NBC News Sunday, “We can speculate on what evidence we think they may or may not have, but even with the indictment published, we really will not know what the district attorney’s evidence is and what they would present at trial.”

Vance’s team investigated the case but did not charge it, leaving it under the purview of his successor, Alvin Bragg.

What we know so far: Trump faces more than 30 counts related to business fraud in the indictment. The investigation by the Manhattan district attorney’s office began when Trump was still in the White House and relates to a $130,000 payment made by his then-personal attorney Michael Cohen to adult film star Stormy Daniels in late October 2016, days before the presidential election, to silence her from going public about an alleged affair with Trump a decade earlier. Trump has denied the affair.

The Trump team’s court strategy could center around challenging the case because it may rely on business record entries that prosecutors tie to hush money payments to Daniels seven years ago, beyond the statute of limitations for a criminal case.

Tacopina suggested in TV interviews Sunday that the statute of limitations may be passed, and said the Trump businesses didn’t make false entries.

“They’re not false entries. But assuming they were, they’re misdemeanors way beyond the statute of limitations, so they had to cobble them together to try and get a felony,” he said.

Tacopina on Sunday also said a request to move the case to a different New York City borough isn’t on the table yet for Trump’s legal team.

CNN’s Shimon Prokupecz describes the security details outside the Manhattan court in New York City where former President Donald Trump will arrive this afternoon for his criminal arraignment.

Court officers, who are usually inside the building, are running security outside the building, Prokupecz noted. “They’re not used to something like this. They’re usually inside the building, so it’s a little different for them.”

He also noted that Hogan Place is “entirely shut down” today, while it was open for walking on Monday.

Watch as Prokupecz shows the scene outside the building:

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Todd Blanche delivers a speech to the press at New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan in New York, on June 27, 2019.

Former President Donald Trump hired a new attorney to serve as lead counsel in his defense against charges brought by the Manhattan district attorney’s office, multiple sources tell CNN.

Trump hired Todd Blanche, who was most recently a partner at law firm Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft. Blanche has previously represented Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and Igor Fruman, a former associate of Rudy Giuliani who was also a key figure in Trump’s first impeachment trial. Politico was first to report the news of Blanche’s hiring.

Trump attorney’s Joe Tacopina and Susan Necheles will remain on Trump’s legal team.  

Blanche’s hiring has been seen by some inside Trump’s orbit as a sidelining of Tacopina, who up until this point has been one of the most forward-facing attorney’s dealing with Trump’s defense. However, a senior adviser to Trump pushed back on that characterization and said the addition of Blanche was intended to add more legal firepower to Trump’s defense.

When pressed by CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on Friday if Tacopina was the right lawyer in New York to take Trump to trial, another lawyer representing the former president, Tim Parlatore, pointed to a potential conflict of interest.

“I know that Joe has certain potential conflict issues, given his prior contacts, with Stormy Daniels. So, who’s the right attorney, to take it to trial, is something that the client will have to decide. Ultimately, the decision of who to stand next to, before a jury, is a decision that only the client can make,” Parlatore said.

Asked by CNN’s Paula Reid if he is still on the case and whether he will be in court Tuesday, Tacopina said: “Yes of course ! And I will be the lead trial lawyer when the bell rings!”

CNN’s Paula Reid contributed reporting to this post.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams listens during a briefing on security preparations ahead of former President Donald Trump's arrival on Monday, April 3, in New York City.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams said Monday there has been no specific credible threats to the city ahead of former President Donald Trump’s arraignment Tuesday.

“All New Yorkers should go on with their regular activities” he stated urging use of mass transit due to street closures.

While he said there may be some “rabble rousers thinking about coming to our city, our message is clear and simple; Control yourselves,” Adams said. 

“NYC is our home not a playground for your misplaced anger,” he continued.

Adams specifically mentioned GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green who he claimed “is known to spread misinformation and hate speech,” adding “she stated she’s coming to town, while you’re in town, be on your best behavior.”

The Republican firebrand had said she will travel to the city to protest Trump’s indictment.

The mayor also noted that New York will not allow “violence or vandalism of any kind,” and those participating in those illegal acts will be arrested and held accountable “no matter who you are.”

New York Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell said the police force “is prepared to ensure that everyone is able to have their voices heard peacefully while exercising their first amendment rights.”

New Yorkers may see increased police presence and should anticipate intermittent road closures over the next two days, she added.

Sewell stressed that the NYPD works with secret service routinely. She wouldn’t elaborate on precise number of officers on the street but said they will have mobile units available to respond to anything.

There will also be a “healthy” compliment of law enforcement officers in the subway system to help facilitate transport.

When asked whether they were aware of any influx of people ahead of the arraignment, Sewell said the NYPD works closely with its local state and federal partners who would give them a heads up in real time but “at this time we don’t see that happening.”

CNN’s Mark Morales contributed reporting to this post.

Former President Donald Trump arrives at Trump Tower in New York on Monday, April 3.

Donald Trump — the first former president in history to face criminal charges — is in New York for an arraignment today, after being indicted last week by a Manhattan grand jury.

Here is what we know about today’s events:

CNN’s John Miller, Jeremy Herb, Katelyn Polantz, Tierney Sneed, Sydney Kashiwagi, Kristen Holmes, Holmes Lybrand, Hannah Rabinowitz, Paula Reid, Alayna Treene, Gregory Clary and Devan Cole contributed reporting to this post.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump arrives at Trump Tower in Manhattan on Monday, April 3, in New York City.

Sixty percent of Americans approve of the indictment of former President Donald Trump, according to a new CNN Poll conducted by SSRS following the news that a New York grand jury voted to charge him in connection with hush money payments made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.

About three-quarters of Americans say politics played at least some role in the decision to indict Trump, including 52% who said it played a major role. 

Here’s how views about the indictment break down by political affiliation:

While views on the indictment are split along party lines, the poll finds that majorities across major demographic divides all approve of the decision to indict the former president. That includes gender (62% of women, 58% of men), racial and ethnic groups (82% of Black adults, 71% of Hispanic adults, 51% of White adults), generational lines (69% under age 35; 62% age 35-49; 53% age 50-64; 54% 65 or older) and educational levels (68% with college degrees, 56% with some college or less). 

A scant 10% overall see Trump as blameless regarding payments made to Daniels, but Americans are divided about whether his actions were illegal or merely unethical. About 4 in 10 say he acted illegally (37%), 33% unethically but not illegally, and another 20% say they aren’t sure. Only 8% of political independents say Trump did nothing wrong, and among the rest, they are mostly on board with the indictment even if they aren’t already convinced Trump did something illegal.

The survey suggests that the indictment has not had a major effect on views of Trump personally. The poll finds his favorability rating at 34% favorable to 58% unfavorable, similar to his standing in a January CNN poll, in which 32% held a favorable view of the former president and 63% an unfavorable one. Among Republicans, 72% hold a favorable view in the new poll, similar to the 68% who felt that way in January. 

Note: The CNN poll was conducted by SSRS on March 31 and April 1 among a random national sample of 1,048 adults surveyed by text message after being recruited using probability-based methods. Results for the full sample have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4.0 percentage points. It is larger for subgroups.