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Trump Pleads Not Guilty To Charges

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

NEW YORK (Worthy News) – The grim-faced former U.S. President Donald J. Trump pleaded “not guilty” Tuesday to 34 charges related to an investigation into a hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels.

Trump, who surrendered at the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse, is the first U.S. president to face criminal charges.

Trump was charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. They include allegations that he turned the $130,000 hush money into a business expense.

Adult film star Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, says she met Trump at a celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe in July 2006, and the two allegedly began an affair.

He was married to Melania Trump, who had just given birth to their son Barron.

Just weeks before the 2016 presidential election, Trump’s longtime personal lawyer Michael Cohen paid $130,000 so Daniels would keep silent about the alleged affair.

He allegedly also paid former Playboy magazine model Karen McDougal a six-figure amount. Both say they had sexual encounters with the married Trump years before he entered politics. But the 76-year-old Trump has vehemently denied sexual liaisons with either woman. He also denied any wrongdoing involving payments.

CRIMINAL CHARGES

Nearly five years after the Manhattan district attorney’s office was reportedly preparing criminal charges related to the hush-money payments, a Manhattan grand jury voted to indict Trump last month after an investigation.

Trump surrendered himself on Tuesday after announcing his decision on his social media platform Truth Social. “Heading to Lower Manhattan, the Courthouse,” he wrote.

“Seems so surreal. Wow, they are going to arrest me. Can’t believe this is happening in America,” Trump said, adding: “MAGA!” a reference to his Make America Great Again slogan and movement.

As the made-for-television drama unfolded, some protesters and counterprotesters assembled outside the courthouse but were outnumbered by media members.

Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor, from Georgia, and George Santos, a Republican from New York, made appearances supporting Trump. “I want to support the president,” Santos said.

“I think this is unprecedented, and it’s a bad day for democracy,” Santos added. He suggested that future prosecutors could target Joe Biden and other presidents with other cases, which “cheapens the judicial system.”

Wearing his signature dark suit and red tie, Trump turned and waved to crowds outside the building before heading inside to be fingerprinted and processed.

LARGE MOTORCADE

He arrived at court in an eight-car motorcade from nearby Trump Tower.

Trump looked toward still photographers permitted inside the courtroom as his attorneys Todd Blanche, Susan Necheles, and Joe Tacopina flanked him.

So far, the indictment has been profitable, financially, for the former leader of the Free World. Trump, a former reality TV star, said he raised more than $8 million in the days since the indictment that he called a “witch hunt.

He also uses a fake mugshot to raise money for his presidential campaign and a related fund that has paid many expenses, including lawyers.

The latest fundraising email, sent before his arraignment began, reportedly shows a black-and-white picture of Trump’s face in front of a height chart with a fake nameplate in front of him. It is referencing him as the 45th and 47th president. Below the picture is an all-caps “NOT GUILTY.”

Experts said before the arraignment they did not expect Trump to take a mugshot.

Trump was scheduled to return to his Palm Beach, Florida, home, Mar-a-Lago, on Tuesday evening to give remarks. At least 500 prominent supporters were invited, with some of the most pro-Trump congressional Republicans expected to attend.

A conviction would not prevent Trump from running for or winning the presidency in 2024, experts say.