Trump Trial: Photos of the Former President No One Expected to See – Pled Not Guilty, Banned from View

Donald Trump, flanked by his lawyers in a New York court, has pleaded not guilty to charges of falsifying business records in a landmark criminal hearing that stirred passions in America and set the stage for his trial in less than a year.

Dressed in a blue suit and red tie, the colors of the constellation, the 76-year-old former US president arrived at court a quarter of an hour late, expressionless and visibly angry, pausing briefly to raise his hand and greet his supporters as well as extend an invitation to the assembled television crews and audience.

From the moment he entered the building, they took his fingerprints—like any other defendant—but did not photograph him, nor did they handcuff him.

Accompanied by two Secret Service agents and two court officers, Trump entered the courtroom and proceeded to set eyes on his attorney. The former president had carefully planned his appearance relentlessly for weeks, but inside the room, absent from television crews and photographers except for the beginning of the session, he looked mostly exasperated.

Before Judge Juan Mercan, Trump said little, only pleading “not guilty” to 34 counts and nodding “I know” when the judge warned him he could be removed from the courtroom if he made a fuss – a surreal sight for the former president of the United States of America, who may face Justice is in less than a year in the middle of the election campaign, as he seeks a second term in the nation’s highest office.

The anti-Trump attorney general has fallen

While filing the indictment, the attorney general accused Trump of “orchestrating a scheme” to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election by withholding potentially politically damaging information from voters. The charges include payments to porn star Stormy Daniels, who claims she had sex with Trump in 2006 when he was married to Melania, to Playboy model Karen McDougall, who wanted to sell a story of an affair with Trump to the media. A former doorman at Trump Tower in New York has claimed Trump fathered a child out of wedlock.

Trump has denied any wrongdoing, claiming he is the victim of a political “witch hunt”.

“Today we stand up for our responsibility to ensure everyone is equal before the law,” Manhattan Attorney General Alvin Bragg told reporters. He added: “No amount of money and no amount of force changes this clear American principle.”

According to the attorney general, Trump alleged that he was paying his former attorney, Michael Cohen, for legal services in 2016. “It’s not true,” Bragg said, adding that this was a false statement Trump made every month. In 2017. “For nine consecutive months, the accused had documents in his hands that contained this fundamental lie.”

He also alleged that Trump signed checks for Cohen throughout those nine months, as the attorney general said the former US president made those false statements to cover up crimes related to the 2016 election.

In addition, the attorney general alleges that the National Enquirer’s parent company, American Media, arranged two payment deals to “bury” stories that could damage Trump: the first involving a $30,000 payment to the former gatekeeper and the second a $150,000 settlement with McDougall, whose story he bought to keep it from publication.

Strict security measures

Trump’s lawyers, of course, defended their client. “Today’s disclosure of the indictment shows that the rule of law is dead in this country. If this man hadn’t been called ‘Donald Trump’, there would be no way we would be here today,” said Joe Tacopina.

Politically and legally, the situation is difficult for Trump and for the United States, as the former president, who was impeached twice – and acquitted with the help of congressional Republicans – seeks to return to the White House.

The close attention of the American public was underlined by the presence of 55,000 police officers on the streets of New York as (fortunately peaceful) demonstrations and counter-demonstrations in the park near the courthouse, with railings separating Trump supporters from opponents – a sign of polarization and division in the United States.

Trump’s legal problems

Trump’s conviction – which is not confirmed – will not prevent him from continuing his campaign or possibly winning the 2024 election.

Trump’s legal adventure in New York is just one of the legal problems he suffers from as he finds himself in the crosshairs of criminal investigations into his supporters’ raid on the Capitol building, his handling of classified documents after leaving the White House and his attempts to annul the election. Georgia’s politics led, as well as civil investigations into his business and a defamation lawsuit against him by E. Jean Carroll, a columnist for the women’s magazine Elle, who accuses him of raping her in her mid-teens in the 1990s in the fitting room of Bergdorf Goodman’s department store on 5th Avenue in New York.

Trump denounces interference in the 2024 presidential election

Trump left the courtroom, and headed to New York’s LaGuardia Airport, where his plane was waiting to take him to Florida.

Arriving at his Mar-a-Lago mansion, he addressed his supporters, unleashing tirades against his “enemies,” from Democratic US President Joe Biden to US Attorney General Bragg and the FBI, in a speech filled with conspiracy theories and lies about his election victory he insists the claim that it was stolen from him.

In a 25-minute speech, an unusual short for Trump, he denounced the judiciary’s “interference” in the 2024 presidential election. He claimed, “I never imagined something like this possible in America.”

“The only crime I committed was to defend our nation against those who seek to destroy it,” he added. He also repeated many lies about the investigations against him and denounced – without providing evidence – the corruption of the Biden family. Several media outlets declined to report on the comments. On MSNBC, Rachel Maddow argued that Trump was “repeating the same lies.” “We don’t consider it newsworthy and there is a cost to us as a news organization if we knowingly broadcast things that are not true,” he said.

Trump’s next court appearance in the New York case is scheduled for December 4.