He sat silently throughout almost the entire proceedings and only spoke when he was required to, either by pleading not guilty or by answering to the judge when addressed directly.
Speaking outside court after the arraignment, Trump›s attorney Todd Blanche said that his client is «frustrated» and «upset.»
He accused the prosecutor of turning a «completely political issue» into a «political prosecution.»
On the charges against Trump, Blanche said: «we›re going to fight it, fight it hard.»
The historic indictment against Trump, was unsealed on Tuesday, providing the public and Trump›s legal team with details about the charges against him for the first time.It includes charges of falsifying business records in connection with a hush payment that Trump›s former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen made to porn star Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016 presidential election.
Prosecutors alleged Trump was part of an unlawful plan to suppress negative information, including an illegal payment of USD 130,000 that was ordered by the defendant to suppress the negative information that would hurt his presidential campaign.
The reason he committed the crime of falsifying business records was in part to “promote his candidacy,” the indictment alleges.
Trump hid reimbursement payments to 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. The payments stopped after December 2017, according to the document.
Trump left the Manhattan courtroom after his arraignment on Tuesday without making any statement.The next in-person hearing date for Trump›s case is set for December 4 in New York, roughly two months before the official start of the 2024 Republican presidential primary calendar.
He criticised the indictment levelled against him, saying he is “going through a fake investigation” that “turned out to be a sham.”
He did not even spare the judge Juan Merchan who is overseeing his case.
The former president alleged that he is a “Trump hating judge” with the “Trump hating wife” and family “whose daughter works for Kamala house and now receives money from the Biden Harris campaign”.
The former president earlier arrived at the specially secured Manhattan courthouse in an eight-car motorcade. He was arrested as he arrived at the court.
Shortly after Trump was put under arrest, his campaign released a mugshot picture of him on a T-shirt saying not guilty.
Hours before his arraignment, Trump sent an email to his supporters, which he claimed was the last one before his arrest, saying that the United States is becoming a “Marxist Third World” country and took to social media to question the fairness of the judiciary.
“My last email before my arrest,” Trump said in the subject line of the email.
The indictment was quickly criticised by Trump’s Republican allies.
“Trump is a textbook on positive thinking, he can convert any grave situation against him, to his best possible advantage. He will convert this week’s New York case, as a stepping stone to win back the White House in 2024,” Al Mason, a die-hard supporter of the former president, said in a statement.