At his arraignment hearing in New York, Donald Trump, who is the first former president of the United States to be legally prosecuted, pleaded not guilty.
Former President of the United States Donald Trump has entered a not guilty plea in the city of New York in connection with a series of allegations related to slush fund payments made in advance of the presidential election in 2016, including one that was made to something like an adult movie actor.
On Tuesday, just before 2:30 p.m. (18:30 GMT), former President Trump walked into a courthouse in Manhattan to officially hear the claims that have been made against him. Trump became the first past president in the history of the United States to be legally charged.
As even the indictment was being unsealed in Manhattan, the office of the Manhattan state attorney revealed that the Republican leader is being charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying New York financial records in order to keep voters in the United States in the dark about potentially damaging information and illegal activity before and following the election in 2016.
The prosecutor who is in charge of the investigation, Alvin Bragg, stated that the so-called “capture and kill” operation involved three different payoffs, one of which was the payment of $130,000 to the adult film star Stormy Daniels.
During a media briefing held on Tuesday afternoon, Bragg emphasized the importance of upholding the office’s long-standing commitment to fulfill its “solemn mission” of ensuring that all individuals are treated in the same manner by the legal system.
That persistent belief in the United States cannot be altered, no matter how much money or power is involved.
On Tuesday, when entering his plea, Donald Trump sat at the scorer’s table with the hands clasped dressed in a dark suit and a crimson tie. His attorneys stood on each side of him while he spoke. The Manhattan court heard the defendant, who was 76 years old, plead “Not guilty.”
He did not utter a single word either when he arrived at the courthouse or when he exited it almost one hour later.
Trump, who is running for re-election by 2024, has dismissed the investigation as a “witch hunt” and rejected any misconduct on his part.
We are on our way to the courthouse in Lower Manhattan. Whoa, I can’t imagine that they’re going to ARREST ME; it doesn’t seem real. When he arrived at the Manhattan court, he commented on social media that he couldn’t believe something like this was happening in the United States.
His arraignment took place a little over a week after a grand jury in New York decided to charge the previous president — a decision that was applauded by Trump’s opponents but prompted considerable criticism from prominent Republicans.
Conflicts in politics:
Because of the political rifts that have been exposed as a result of this case in the United States, there was a significant increase in the number of law enforcement officers present at the hearing that took place on Tuesday.
All day long, large numbers of people who favor and oppose Trump participated in opposing protests that were held close to the court.
According to Jennifer Victor, an associate political science professor at George Mason University, who spoke with Al Jazeera, “his followers tend to truly accept wholeheartedly” Trump’s argument that the prosecution is politically driven is one that “his fans tend to genuinely believe.”
Victor predicted that the proceedings would become increasingly divisive as the investigation into this matter dragged on.
The payment of $130,000 that Trump’s former fixer and personal attorney Michael Cohen paid to Daniels inside the dying days of a previous president’s 2016 presidential campaign was the primary focus of the inquiry that was conducted in the state of New York.
Stephanie Clifford Daniels, who goes by the name Stormy, has claimed that she had personal affair with Donald Trump beginning in 2006. Cohen claimed that he carried out Trump’s instructions and paid her.
The previous president rejected the affair and stated that the money was made to protect the reputation from a wrongful conviction, stressing that he did nothing illegal. He also stated that the payment was made to defend his character from a false accusation.
New York’s prosecutor, Bragg, claimed on Tuesday that such a former doorman at Trump Tower was paid $30,000 to drop allegations that Trump was the father of an illegitimate child.
One final instance involves a woman who was paid a sum of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars by a tabloid newspaper in the United States to keep quiet about an alleged sexual relationship she had with Donald Trump.
If convicted of all charges, he could face over than 100 years behind bars under the laws of New York. But, he is likely to receive a far shorter sentence.
When done to further or conceal another crime, fabricating company documents in New York is upgraded to a punishable offense by as much as 4 years in prison, even if the offense itself has a maximum sentence of one year in jail.
Republican lawmakers publicly defended Trump again on Tuesday, with U.s. Senator Cruz arguing the case mocks the system of law. Cruz tweeted that the charge was baseless and that the political persecution it represented was a bad day for the United States.
Democrats have argued that this proves that “nobody has any power over the law.”
It’s a sad day in American history when a former president must be arraigned on criminal charges. Rep. Adam Schiff of California used Twitter.
Bragg has called the current assertions by Republicans that the lawsuit is politically inspired “baseless and provocative” on multiple occasions.
During a press conference on Tuesday, he said, “These are felony offenses in the state of NY, regardless of who you are.” We will not and cannot accept criminal behavior of this nature.
