Donald Trump set to be arraigned in historic court moment today
Published:Tuesday | April 4, 2023 | 8:25 AM
NEW YORK (AP) — An extraordinary moment in US history will unfold in a Manhattan courthouse on Tuesday: Former President Donald Trump, who faces multiple election-related investigations, will surrender and be arraigned on criminal charges stemming from 2016 hush money payments.
The booking and appearance before Judge Juan Merchan should be relatively brief, though hardly routine, as Trump is fingerprinted, learns the charges against him and pleads, as expected, not guilty. Merchan has ruled that TV cameras won't be allowed in the courtroom.
Trump, who was impeached twice by the US House but was never convicted in the US Senate, will become the first former president to face criminal charges. The nation's 45th commander in chief will be escorted from Trump Tower to the courthouse by the Secret Service and may have his mug shot taken.
Trump lawyer Joe Tacopina said Tuesday that Trump wouldn't plead guilty to lesser charges, even if it might resolve the case. He said he didn't believe the case would ever make it to a jury, but he conceded, “Really, there's a lot of mystery here because we're doing something that's never been done before.”
“I think there will be a typical processing, which does not take long, 20-30 minutes. There won't be handcuffs,” Tacopina told ABC's “Good Morning America.” “But, yeah, he'll be processed the way anyone else would be, to a degree.”
New York police are braced for protests by Trump supporters, who share the Republican former president's belief that the New York grand jury indictment and three additional pending investigations are politically motivated and intended to weaken his bid to retake the White House in 2024.
Trump, a former reality TV star, has been hyping that narrative to his political advantage, saying he raised $8 million in the less than a week since the indictment on claims of a “witch hunt.” He has assailed the Manhattan district attorney, egged on supporters to protest and claimed without evidence that the judge presiding over the case “hates me”, something his own lawyer has said is not true.
Trump is scheduled to return to his Palm Beach, Florida, home, Mar-a-Lago, on Tuesday evening to hold a rally, punctuating his new reality: submitting to the dour demands of the American criminal justice system while projecting an aura of defiance and victimhood at celebratory campaign events. At least 500 prominent supporters have been invited, with some of the most pro-Trump congressional Republicans expected to attend.
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