FORMER United States President and front-runner for the 2024 Republican nomination, Donald Trump, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to 34 felony counts.
The charges include falsifying business records related to his alleged role in hush money payments towards the end of his 2016 presidential campaign — the first time a former President has had to plead to criminal charges.
Trump was flanked by his lawyers inside the courtroom as the indictment was unsealed in a brief proceeding before Judge Juan Merchan.
“Not guilty,” the former President said when asked how he pleaded.
Earlier, he arrived at the courthouse at 100 Centre Street in lower Manhattan in a presidential-style motorcade from Trump Tower in midtown, where he had stayed overnight.
He was informed he was under arrest, fingerprinted and processed ahead of his arraignment.
“Seems so SURREAL — WOW, they are going to ARREST ME. Can’t believe this is happening in America,” he said in a post on his social media platform Truth Social that published as he was arriving at the courthouse.
While falsifying business records in New York on its own is a misdemeanor punishable by no more than one year in prison, it is elevated to a felony punishable by up to four years in prison when done to advance or conceal another crime.
However, taken together, the charges against the former President is said to carry a maximum sentence of 136 years in prison under New York law but an actual prison sentence if he is convicted at a trial is expected to be far less than that.
Trump was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury last week in a case stemming from a 2016 hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.