The former president of the United State, Donald Trump, on Tuesday, pleaded not guilty to 34 felony criminal charges during a court hearing in New York.
Trump leaves the court after a hearing that lasted almost an hour.
His charges reportedly include 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree — part of a complex scheme intended to cover up a hush money payment to a porn star.
Trump surrendered to authorities for arrest in New York early Tuesday afternoon, and he pleaded not guilty in a Manhattan court.
He is the first former U.S. President to face criminal charges.
The not-guilty plea comes after a grand jury voted on Thursday to indict Trump, an unprecedented decision that promises to shake up the 2024 presidential race.
The Trump charges have emerged after years of legal wrangling over a $130,000 payment, made just ahead of the 2016 election, to keep Stormy Daniels quiet about her alleged affair with Trump.
The payment was made to aid Trump’s presidential bid, but it was not disclosed as a campaign contribution.
Trump lawyer/fixer Michael Cohen paid Daniels out of his own pocket, funneling the money through a shell corporation. Trump then allegedly directed that Cohen be reimbursed for the payment.
The Trump Organization then put Cohen on a $35,000 monthly retainer throughout 2017, ostensibly for legal services, according to Cohen’s guilty plea for violating campaign finance laws.
Trump has denied the affair and insisted that he never instructed Cohen to do anything illegal suggesting he was following the advice of his counsel. But Cohen has testified that the initial payment and the covert reimbursement scheme were both executed at Trump’s direction.
Rolling Stone reported in February that Trump’s advisers have told him to insist the payment was made to keep the alleged affair from his wife Melania, not to help his presidential campaign.
Trump has been railing against Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg since the news of his impending arrest broke last month, and especially since the grand jury voted to indict him last week.
The former president has attacked the legitimacy of the case, calling it “Election Interference” and suggesting violence may be the only way to defend him against the prosecution.
