Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, according to several news reports.
He entered the plea during a brief arraignment in a lower Manhattan courtroom as prosecutors unsealed a grand jury indictment. Earlier in the day, Trump was arrested after he surrendered before a New York court over charges stemming from a hush money payment to a porn actor during the 2016 elections campaign.
What is the hush money case?
Trump was indicted last week by a grand jury in the case brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, an elected Democrat.
The charges revolve around the investigation of $130,000 paid to adult film actress Stormy Daniels just days before Trump’s election win.
Trump’s former lawyer and aide Michael Cohen, who has turned against his ex-boss, says he arranged the payment to Daniels in exchange for her silence about a tryst she says she had with Trump in 2006.
Trump, whose third wife Melania had recently given birth at the time, denies the affair.
Legal experts have suggested that if not properly accounted for, the payment could result in charges for falsifying business records, possibly for the purpose of covering up a campaign finance violation.
Trump is facing a series of separate criminal investigations at the state and federal level that could result in further — more serious — charges between now and Election Day.
They include his attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state of Georgia, his handling of classified documents, and his possible involvement in the storming of the US Capitol on 6 January 2021.
With inputs from agencies
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