The indictment unveiled on Tuesday centers on a hush-money deal with a porn star, but a related document alleges a broader scheme to protect Donald J. The central players in the case are a stranger-than-fiction trio: the porn star, the hangdog fixer who paid her off and the former president who stands accused of trying to cover the whole thing up. With the charges now unsealed, the public can delve deeper into the details of a tawdry tale of sex, lies and intrigue that seems to have sprung from a gossip column and ended up in a felony indictment. Trump accuses him of lying to cover up a tryst with a porn star: a tabloid indictment for a tabloid president. And now, perhaps fittingly, the first criminal case against Mr. Trump’s election in 2016 also accelerated a circuslike era in American politics, marked by fiery social media posts and an at-best casual relationship with the truth. That journey may not end in New York: He faces three other criminal investigations - in Georgia and Washington - related to accusations of undermining an election and mishandling sensitive government records, issues at the core of American democracy and security.īut Mr. Trump’s hometown, is the beginning of the former president’s journey through the criminal justice system. Trump, who pleaded not guilty to 34 counts, sat with his legal team in court. Trump’s lawyers, telling them, “Please speak to your client and anybody else you need to, and remind them to please refrain from making statements that are likely to incite violence or civil unrest.” In response, the judge overseeing the case, Juan M. Trump has made online in past weeks, including writing that “death and destruction” would follow if he were to be charged. “No amount of money and no amount of power” changes that, he added.ĭuring the hearing, one of the prosecutors from the Manhattan district attorney’s office, Chris Conroy, brought up threatening posts that Mr. Bragg, a Democrat, said at a press conference after the arraignment. “Everyone stands equal under the law,” Mr. Trump’s first day in court as a criminal defendant. Afterward, he made his first remarks since the indictment, punctuating a proceeding that gave his liberal Manhattan base a long-awaited moment of catharsis: Mr. The hearing was also momentous for the prosecutor who brought the case, the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin L. Overall he said fewer than a dozen words, but at one point leaned forward and entered his plea of “not guilty” in the packed but pin-drop-quiet courtroom, a surreal scene for a man who months ago mounted a third run for the White House. Trump’s supporters rallied outside, the former president sat, almost docile, at the defense table, listening as prosecutors described the case against him. Trump, who was indicted on 34 felony counts and stands accused of covering up a potential sex scandal involving a porn star, made an extraordinary appearance at the Criminal Courts Building in Lower Manhattan to face the charges.
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