The day started with a suspicious package alert, then a historic arraignment, a stop at a Little Havana eatery after and a rally at a New Jersey golf club where Donald Trump slammed what he called a “sham indictment.”
It was an unprecedented day in American history.
“Not guilty,” former President Trump said around 3 p.m. in answering to 37 counts leveled against him by the government he once led, before placing his immediate future into the hands of Judge Aileen Cannon in a Miami federal court. The 42-year-old has been a judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida since 2020 when she was appointed by the former president.
“This is a day that will go down in infamy … and threatening me with 400 days in prison” is a “heinous abuse,” Trump said at his Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, NJ, just before 9 p.m.
“I had every right to have these documents,” he added, citing former President Bill Clinton’s legal fight to keep his personal materials. “They ought to drop this case immediately because they are destroying this country.”
Trump, now twice impeached and twice indicted, was already sitting in the court when reporters were allowed in to witness his afternoon arraignment over alleged mishandling of classified information and obstruction of justice in the months after he left the White House.
After repeated demands for the classified documents, an August search of Trump’s property by the FBI turned up dozens of files stored haphazardly enough that an investigation and subsequent decision by a grand jury led the 45th president to accusations he violated the Espionage Act, a place no U.S. chief executive has ever been.
Cannon, randomly selected to oversee the case brought against Trump, suddenly wields unprecedented power to impact the pace of the 2024 election, as she will now set both the tempo and tone of the case. The former federal prosecutor was chastised for her ruling in earlier Trump-related proceedings after she appointed a special master to review the documents seized by the government only to have her order vacated by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit.
Trump, who was in court for less than 2 hours, was not forced to post bail nor subjected to conditions for his release, other than that he not discuss the particulars of the case with witnesses except in the presence of counsel. Trump was not made to stand for a mug shot nor were his fingers inked for prints.
Technically now under arrest by federal authorities, along with his personal valet Walt Nauta who is also facing related charges stemming from his role in the documents case, Trump will remain free on his own recognizance to campaign and carry on with business.
It is unclear when Trump will next need to appear in court, as Cannon did not immediately set a date for the next phase of the trial. Legal experts suggest she may wait for either side to begin filing motions in the case before coming up with a schedule for proceedings.
The former president was met by cheers from supporters when he arrived at the federal courthouse ahead of his 3 p.m. court appearance and waved from the back of his government SUV when he left shortly before 4 p.m.
The scene in Miami outside the courthouse was mostly peaceful. Trump had called on his supporters to protest his court appearance and hundreds answered his call, waving flags bearing the former president’s name and stylized image.
Trump stopped at a Miami cafe to meet with more supporters not far from the courthouse, before boarding his private plane and flying to Bedminster, N.J., for a scheduled evening campaign appearance.
No other U.S. president has ever been charged with a crime. At current, including felony state-level charges he is fighting in an unrelated case out of New York, Trump is facing 71 separate felony charges.
The former president is also dominating in Republican presidential polls, leading the next closest candidate by more than 30 points.
Herald wire services contributed.