Former President Donald Trump (Screen capture via Vice News YouTube)
Former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the first degree on April 4.
The arraignment took place in a lower Manhattan courtroom five days after a grand jury indicted Trump on the charges that stem from hush money payments he made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels before the 2016 presidential election.
Trump surrendered to authorities shortly after 1 p.m. ET. U.S. Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and George Santos (R-N.Y.) joined the former president’s supporters who rallied in his defense outside the courtroom earlier on Tuesday.
“The People of the State of New York allege that Donald J. Trump repeatedly and fraudulently falsified New York business records to conceal crimes that hid damaging information from the voting public during the 2016 presidential election,” said Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg in a statement. “Manhattan is home to the country’s most significant business market. We cannot allow New York businesses to manipulate their records to cover up criminal conduct. As the Statement of Facts describes, the trail of money and lies exposes a pattern that, the People allege, violates one of New York’s basic and fundamental business laws. As this office has done time and time again, we today uphold our solemn responsibility to ensure that everyone stands equal before the law.”
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