Former US President Donald Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
He entered the plea Tuesday during a brief arraignment in a lower Manhattan courtroom as prosecutors unsealed a grand jury indictment.
The charges stem from a hush money payment to a porn actor during Trump’s 2016 campaign.
A stone-faced Trump entered the courtroom shortly before 2.30pm local time (4.30am AEST) without saying anything to waiting reporters.
Judge Juan Merchan ruled that TV cameras would not be allowed in the courtroom.
New York DA Alvin Bragg has announced Trump has been “indicted for falsifying New York business records in order to conceal damaging information and unlawful activity from American voters before and after the 2016 election”.
In a release, Bragg’s office said the charges related to offences caused as a result of Trump’s electoral strategy.
“During the election, Trump and others employed a ‘catch and kill’ scheme to identify, purchase, and bury negative information about him and boost his electoral prospects.
“Trump then went to great lengths to hide this conduct, causing dozens of false entries in business records to conceal criminal activity, including attempts to violate state and federal election laws.
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“Trump is charged in a New York State Supreme Court indictment with 34 counts of Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree.”
Trump, who was impeached twice by the US House but was never convicted in the US Senate, is the first former president to face criminal charges.
The nation’s 45th commander in chief was escorted from Trump Tower to the courthouse by the Secret Service.
“He is strong and ready to go,” Trump lawyer Joe Tacopina said outside court before the hearing.
Earlier, Tacopina said in a TV interview that the former president wouldn’t plead guilty to lesser charges, even if it might resolve the case. He also said he didn’t think the case would make it to a jury.
New York police said they were ready for large 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.
Journalists often outnumbered protesters, though.
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