May 19, 2024
NEW YORK (AP) — A stone-faced Donald Trump, the Republican frontrunner heading into next year’s presidential election, appeared in a New York City courtroom Tuesday to be arraigned on charges that he falsified internal business records.
“I never thought anything like this could happen in America,” Trump later told supporters at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. “This fake case was brought only to interfere with the upcoming 2024 election, and it should be dropped immediately."
With Trump watching in silence in the Manhattan courtroom, prosecutors bluntly accused him of criminal conduct and set the stage for a possible criminal trial in the city where he became a celebrity decades ago.
Trump is now the first former president to ever face criminal charges.
Inside the courtroom, Trump sat at the defense table with his hands in his lap and his lawyers at his side. He looked right at photojournalists who were briefly allowed into the courtroom as they snapped his photo. During the rest of the proceeding, he stayed still with his hands together and looked straight ahead.
Trump spoke only briefly in court, telling the judge he was pleading “not guilty” and that he had been advised of his rights.
Trump’s lawyer Todd Blanche said during the hearing that Trump is “absolutely frustrated, upset and believes that there is a great injustice happening” in the courtroom.
