Former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records on Tuesday, stemming from an investigation into an alleged hush money payment he made to adult film star Stormy Daniels while he was a presidential candidate in 2016. The indictment against the 76-year-old former president was unsealed and the charges against the former president were read to him in court before he himself made the plea to a judge. Trump, who is campaigning for another term in the White House, is the first sitting or former president in U.S. history to face criminal charges.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office said that Trump would not be placed in handcuffs or have his mug shot taken when he surrendered to authorities, as that is only reserved for flight risks or threats to the district attorney or court personnel. He was fingerprinted upon arrival at the courthouse.
The investigation that led to unprecedented charges against the former president traces back to an alleged affair Trump had with Daniels, and the allegation that Trump arranged a $130,000 payment to Daniels a month before the 2016 election to ensure she’d keep quiet about the alleged affair they’d had years earlier.
A Manhattan grand jury voted to indict Trump last week after investigating the payment that prosecutors allege was falsely documented as “legal expenses” in the financial records of the Trump Organization. Trump and his longtime lawyer Michael Cohen initially denied the claims of an affair, however Cohen later admitted that there was a payment made to Daniels. Cohen told The New York Times that he paid Daniels $130,000 out of his own pocket in 2016, calling it “a private transaction.” He said Trump had not reimbursed him. Trump since admitted he authorized the $130,000 payment, but has continued to deny the underlying claims that the two had an affair or that the payment was in any way connected to his campaign.
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