Trump pleads not guilty to 34 felony charges of falsifying business records

NEW YORK (TND) — Former President Donald Trump has pleaded not guilty to charges brought against him by the Manhattan district attorney’s office in connection with a yearslong investigation into a hush money payment made in the closing days of the 2016 election, marking the first time in U.S. history a president has been charged with a crime.

Trump was charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the first degree, all of which he pleaded not guilty to. All of them are "class E" felonies, the lowest felony category in New York that carry a maximum sentence of four years each.

Each criminal charge Trump is facing relates to a specific entry in the Trump Organization's business records, according to the indictment. Falsifying business records is a felony in New York when there is intent to "commit another crime or to aid or conceal" one, and prosecutors argue that Trump violated election law by trying to suppress negative information before the 2016 election.

The next court date is scheduled for Dec. 4, just weeks before voting in the 2024 Republican presidential primaries will begin.

The former president and his attorneys did not say anything while walking into and out of the courtroom. Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social that prosecutors have "no case" and said nothing had been done illegally.

“The hearing was shocking to many in that they had no 'surprises,' and therefore no case. Virtually every legal pundit has said that there is no case here. There was nothing done illegally!” he wrote.

After the hearing, Trump's attorneys again accused Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg of conducting a partisan criminal case against the former president.

"The district attorney has turned what is actually a completely political issue into a political persecution," they said.

In a press conference after the hearing, Bragg said his office has a history of prosecuting white collar crimes and cases involving falsifying business records is the "bread and butter" of its work.

"This case today is one with allegations like so many of our white collar cases, allegations that someone lied again and again to protect their interests and evade the laws to which we are all held accountable," Bragg said. "As this office has done, time and time again, we today uphold our solemn responsibility to ensure that everyone stands equal before the law, no amount of money and no amount of power changes that enduring American principle."

In the statement of facts included in the indictment, prosecutors allege Trump orchestrated a “catch and kill scheme,” where payments were made to people to keep unflattering information about him being made public. Prosecutors also allege those payments were made and concealed through months of false business entries.

The first incident alleged in the document says National Enquirer parent company American Media Inc. paid $30,000 to a former doorman at Trump Tower who claimed to have a story about Trump having a child out of wedlock.

Two other instances involve payments made by former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, who has been convicted of federal finance charges in connection with one of the payments.

One was a $150,000 payment to former Playboy model Karen McDougal who claimed to have a sexual relationship with Trump. Prosecutors allege AMI gave McDougal the money and that Cohen was told to repay them in cash by Trump.

Also included in the document is the $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels, a case that resulted in the conviction of former Trump attorney Michael Cohen on federal campaign finance charges. Daniels will be put on the stand during the trial, prosecutors said in court documents.

After winning the 2016 presidential election, Trump reimbursed Cohen in a series of monthly payments, prosecutors said. Those payments are where prosecutors allege fraud occurred. Prosecutors argue those payments were incorrectly classified as legal expenses for a retainer that did not exist.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said being arrested "seems so surreal" while on his way to the courthouse.

“Seems so SURREAL — WOW, they are going to ARREST ME. Can’t believe this is happening in America," he wrote.

The indictment has been dismissed by Trump and many of his high-profile Republican allies in Congress as a politically motivated stunt by a Democratic district attorney. A Republican-led House subcommittee created to investigate alleged “weaponization of the government” has already sent a letter to Bragg seeking communications and documents related to the hush money investigation and for him to testify to lawmakers about what they said, “plainly appears to be a politically motivated prosecutorial decision.”

Many Republicans in Congress, including House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., dismissed the charges as being politically motivated and accused Bragg of engaging in election interference.

Even with the indictment, Trump remains the favorite to win the Republican presidential nomination in 2024 and some recent polls have found his strength over challengers growing since it was announced.

"Alvin Bragg is attempting to interfere in our democratic process by invoking federal law to bring politicized charges against President Trump, admittedly using federal funds, while at the same time arguing that the peoples’ representatives in Congress lack jurisdiction to investigate this farce," McCarthy said. "Not so. Bragg’s weaponization of the federal justice process will be held accountable by Congress."

House GOP caucus chair Elise Stefanik of New York predicted Trump will still win the 2024 presidential election.

"President Trump continues to skyrocket in the polls, and just like with the Russia hoax and both sham impeachments, President Trump will defeat this latest witch-hunt, defeat Joe Biden, and will be sworn in as President of the United States of America in January 2025," she said in a statement.

Even many of Trump's potential or announced challengers have defended him against the New York case. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who regularly ranks as voters' second choice in opinion surveys, said Bragg was weaponizing the law and vowed not to participate in any extradition process.

Trump has also accumulated a few endorsements from a handful of Republican lawmakers in the days leading up to Tuesday's arraignment.

The New York charges are not the end of the former president’s legal troubles.

He is also actively under investigation in Fulton County, Georgia for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election that now-President Joe Biden won. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis impaneled a grand to help determine whether Trump and his allies committed crimes trying to overturn the results.

The grand jury recommended prosecutors should seek charges for some witnesses who it believes committed perjury, but recommendations for specific people to be charged are still being unknown. The district attorney has the final say on whether charges get filed.

Trump is also under federal scrutiny for his handling of classified documents after several hundred documents with classified markings were found at his Mar-a-Lago estate. A special counsel, Jack Smith, has been appointed by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate the case.

The former president could still face federal charges for efforts to overturn the 2020 election and events that led up to the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol. A House select committee to investigate the riot recommended the Justice Department file charges against Trump for his role in the riot, though that holds no legal authority and Garland has the final decision.

The former president is expected to deliver a speech Tuesday night in response to the New York charges from Mar-a-Lago.

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