Former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty in New York City court Tuesday after being charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree.
The charges came out of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's years-long investigation.
Trump surrendered to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and was arraigned in court Tuesday afternoon after being indicted by a Manhattan grand jury last week.
The indictment was unsealed in court during Trump's arraignment Tuesday. Trump was charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree.
Trump pleaded not guilty.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 04: Former U.S. President Donald Trump sits at the defense table with his defense team in a Manhattan court during his arraignment on April 4, 2023, in New York City. Trump was arraigned during his first court appearance today following an indictment by a grand jury that heard evidence about money paid to adult film star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 presidential election. With the indictment, Trump becomes the first former U.S. president in history to be charged with a criminal offense. (Photo by Seth Wenig-Pool/Getty Images) (Photo by Seth Wenig-Pool/Getty Images)
The former president of the United States, and the leading Republican presidential candidate for 2024, was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury Thursday after a years-long investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney's Office.
The indictment was unsealed in court Tuesday before Judge Juan Merchan, the trial judge presiding over the case.
Trump was not handcuffed, as some are during an arraignment, after making arrangements with the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. Detectives within the office handled the arrest of the former president.
Opponents of former US president Donald Trump protest outside the Manhattan District Attorney's office in New York on April 4, 2023. - Donald Trump will make an unprecedented appearance before a New York judge on April 4, 2023 to answer criminal charges that threaten to throw the 2024 White House race into turmoil. (Photo by ANGELA WEISS / AFP) (Photo by ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images) (Photo by ANGELA WEISS / AFP/ Photo by ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)
The unprecedented arraignment and indictment of the former president comes after Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has been investigating Trump for hush money payments made leading up to the 2016 presidential election.
FILE - In this Oct. 11, 2018, file photo, adult film actress Stormy Daniels arrives for the opening of the adult entertainment fair "Venus," in Berlin. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File)
These include the $130,000 payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, and the $150,000 payment made to former Playboy model Karen McDougal. Both women were paid for their silence on alleged affairs with Trump — affairs Trump has repeatedly denied.
Playboy model Karen McDougal, right.
Those payments had been investigated by the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of New York and by the Federal Election Commission.
Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York opted out of charging Trump related to the Daniels payment in 2019. The Federal Election Commission also tossed its investigation into the matter in 2021.
Trump has slammed the DA’s investigation and the indictment as "Political Persecution and Election Interference at the highest level in history."