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      New York judge in Trump arraignment reportedly receives ‘dozens’ of threats

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      The New York judge who presided over the arraignment of Donald Trump and the judge’s family have reportedly received multiple threats following the historic arrest of the former president.In court in Manhattan on Tuesday, Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts related to his hush money payment to the adult film star Stormy Daniels.NBC was among outlets to report that the judge, Juan Merchan, and his family subsequently received “dozens” of threats.Citing two sources familiar with the matter, NBC said the threats, like those recently directed towards the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, and other officials, had come in the form of calls, emails and letters.In addition to increased security surrounding Merchan and the court, New York police were providing “extra security to all affected staff members”, NBC said. Biographies of employees at Bragg’s office had been removed from the district attorney’s website.The New York Daily News also reported threats to Merchan and his family, a source telling the paper “the content of the calls, emails and letters was … harassing and defamatory, with most of the trolls calling from out of state”.Lucian Chalfen, a spokesperson for the New York office of court administration, told the paper: “We continue to evaluate and re-evaluate security concerns and potential threats. We have maintained an increased security presence in and around courthouses and throughout the judiciary and will adjust protocols as necessary.”Elsewhere, J Michael Luttig, the retired conservative judge and adviser to the former vice-president Mike Pence who came to national prominence with testimony to the House January 6 committee, warned Trump he risked a gag order over his attacks on Judge Merchan.“There is no court that would want to impose a gag order on a president of the United States,” Luttig told Axios. But “if the former president forces the Manhattan criminal court, the court will have no choice”.Mike Scotto, a former rackets bureau chief for the Manhattan district attorney, told the same site: “A gag order is used to protect the defendant’s rights to a fair trial and also the government’s rights to a fair trial, so that the potential jurors don’t learn anything about the case that they’re not going to learn in court.”Luttig is an influential voice in conservative circles, widely deemed unlucky not to have reached the supreme court. He has predicted “the beginning of the end of Donald Trump”.But the former president enjoys comfortable leads in polling regarding the Republican nomination in 2024 and senior party figures have rallied round him in response to his historic indictment.Before his arraignment in the New York case, Trump stoked controversy with inflammatory social media posts about the case and Bragg and calls for protest.On Tuesday, the far-right Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene led a rally for Trump in a park outside the court in Manhattan.Inside the court, Merchan warned Trump to “refrain from making statements that are likely to incite violence and civil unrest”. He also told a Trump lawyer: “I don’t share your view that certain language is justified by frustration.”Hours later, in a speech at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida, Trump called Merchan “a Trump-hating judge”; attacked the judge’s family (“I have a Trump-hating judge with a Trump-hating wife and family whose daughter worked for Kamala Harris”); and went after Bragg (“a criminal”) and other prosecutors overseeing investigations of his behaviour in the White House and out of power.Fani Willis, the district attorney of Fulton county, Georgia, is investigating Trump’s election subversion attempts there, with an indictment believed likely.Trump called her “a local racist Democrat”.At the US justice department, the special counsel Jack Smith is overseeing investigations of Trump’s election subversion and incitement of the Capitol attack, and of Trump’s retention of classified records.Trump called him “a radical-left lunatic known as a bomb-thrower”.The Lincoln Project, a group formed by anti-Trump Republicans, condemned what it called “a paranoid and delusional speech cheered on by fanatical cult members who do not care about democracy and American values”.“Trump got the circus he wanted,” the group said. “The rest of the GOP has fallen in line.” More

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      Marjorie Taylor Greene calls New York City disgusting, filthy and repulsive

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      The far-right congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene risked stoking the wrath of New Yorkers for a second time this week, calling their city “disgusting”, “filthy”, “repulsive” and a “terrible place”.“I compared it to what I called Gotham City,” the Georgia Republican told Fox News. “The streets are filthy, they’re covered with people basically lying, on drugs. They can’t even stand up. They’re falling over. There’s so much crime in the city. I can’t comprehend how people live there.”The blogger Aaron Rupar responded: “Imagine if [the New York progressive] Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez went on MSNBC and said this about a town in Marjorie Taylor Greene‘s district. Republicans would try to expel her from Congress.”Mehdi Hasan, the MSNBC host, said: “No Democratic politician from the coasts could ever go visit a Republican-led city in the south and then go on a liberal media outlet and call it repulsive, smelly and disgusting. No way.”Greene’s comments, Hasan said, were “a reminder of the double standards, and asymmetry, in our politics and our media”.Greene is a conspiracy theorist and controversialist who has made antisemitic and racist claims and was barred from committees by Democrats after threatening fellow members of Congress. She was restored to key assignments by Kevin McCarthy when the Republican became House speaker in January, dependent on far-right support.Greene visited New York on Tuesday, to protest in support of Donald Trump as the former president – and former New Yorker – pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts related to his hush money payment to the adult film star Stormy Daniels.Greene attempted to speak in a park outside the courthouse in downtown Manhattan. She was jostled and drowned out by whistles blown by counter-protesters.“It was absolute chaos,” she told Tucker Carlson on Wednesday. “And that’s what the mayor of New York City wanted to happen to me.”Eric Adams had warned Greene to “be on your best behavior”.“He threatened me and basically put on a dog whistle for violence against me,” Greene claimed, also claiming the protest against her was “against the law, by the way, Tucker.“You see, they didn’t want me to be able to protest and use my first amendment right. And they wanted violence. I think they wanted that to happen, because they want to repeat January 6 all over again, want all of us Trump supporters, Maga, basically Republicans and just good Americans to look like criminals, and that’s what they do in communist countries.”On 6 January 2021, supporters Trump told to “fight like hell” to overturn his election defeat stormed the US Capitol. Nine deaths are now linked to the riot, including law enforcement suicides. More than a thousand arrests have been made and hundreds of convictions won, some for seditious conspiracy. With other Republicans, Greene has visited January 6 rioters in jail.On Fox News, Greene called Democrats “fascists … in hysterics” over Trump. But she wasn’t finished with New York.Carlson, whose network is based in midtown Manhattan but who built a home studio in Maine, said: “Mayor Adams describe New York as quote his ‘home’. How did his home look? Pretty neat and tidy?”Greene made her comparison to Gotham City – where Batman lives – and added: “It was repulsive, it smells bad. And I just, I think it’s a terrible place.”Perhaps thinking of his bosses in midtown, at 1211 Avenue of the Americas, Carlson said: “Yeah, with some nice people. I will say that.” More

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      in Elections

      How the day of Trump's indictment unfolded – video report

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      In what was seen by many as a sombre day for the US and its judicial system, Donald Trump became the first US president to be indicted on criminal charges on Tuesday. He was briefly arrested as he surrendered and attended his arraignment in a Manhattan court, where he pleaded not guilty to 34 felony charges of falsifying business records.
      The Guardian summarises a historic day of media frenzy as news crews followed Trump’s every step – from Trump Tower back to his Mar-a-Lago residence More

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      Trump’s indictment is about more than hush money – it’s a question of democracy

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      Former president Donald Trump pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to hush money payments he made through his allies to hide extramarital affairs in the weeks before the 2016 election.As prosecutors in the New York courtroom reiterated, the issue wasn’t just that Trump directed these payments that put him at fault, but that the timing of them probably changed the course of his campaign and paved the way for Trump to interfere with election results for two cycles. And the criminal charges were only part of the picture when it comes to Trump’s election meddling, and the threats he has posed to US democracy.“[These are] very serious criminal allegations that matter to our democracy because of the effect that paying this hush money could have had suppressing a scandal, saving the Trump campaign, altering the outcome of the 2016 election and setting up the election interference that we investigated in the first impeachment,” longtime election lawyer Norm Eisen said in a recent interview.“And that culminated in the attempted coup following the 2020 election and the violence of January 6.”This week’s indictment could be the first time that Trump – or any president in the country’s history – is held accountable for a criminal act. But this may not be the only time Trump faces courtroom allegations this year.Though the first indictment of a former president comes in a trial about falsifying business records, there is also the Fulton county litigation over Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia and the multiple cases involving his role in instigating a riot at the US Capitol on 6 January 2021.“People have to be held accountable for their actions and when a former president of the United States has allegedly committed a criminal act and is found guilty, he has to be held accountable,” said Fred Wertheimer, the president of Democracy 21, a non-partisan organization that works to protect democracy.And while some have lamented that the first case to reach an indictment is not the most significant one pending against Trump’s election denial tactics, Wertheimer said it was still a strong case.“Even though this case does not appear as directly related to our democracy as the Mar-a-Lago documents case, the Georgia case about attempting to steal a presidential election, or the largest case about the alleged attempt by former president Trump to overturn the presidential election and the role he allegedly played in inciting the January 6 insurrection, if you look at the fundamentals of our democracy, this case is similar in importance to those other cases,” he said.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionA guilty verdict against Trump could also show that nobody in the US, including a former president, is above the law, a fundamental component of a functioning democracy. In many other countries – including many ranked among the most democratic – ex-heads of government or state have been prosecuted, but never before has it happened in the US.In the past 15 years alone, Nicolas Sarkozy and Jacques Chirac of France, Park Geun-hye and Lee Myung-bak of South Korea, and Silvio Berlusconi of Italy have all been prosecuted for corruption and found guilty, according to the New York Times.A majority of Americans – 60% – approve of the indictment against Donald Trump according to a recent CNN poll, although respondents were split on whether they believe it benefits democracy. A majority also believe that politics played a role in the indictment, a fact that could threaten democracy by making people believe that the legal system can be influenced by partisan actions.“At the heart of our democracy is the fact that nobody is above the law,” Wertheimer said. “Everyone in our society has to comply with the rules. That’s just the fundamental principle of the rule of law.” More

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      in US Politics

      Trump addresses indictment in brief – as it happened

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      This blog is now closed. You can read our full story on Trump’s arraignment – and the aftermath – here.We’ll be closing this blog shortly. Here is a summary of today’s events so far:
      Donald Trump was charged on Tuesday with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in a historic case over allegations he orchestrated hush-money payments to two women before the 2016 US election to suppress publication of their alleged sexual encounters with him. Prosecutors in Manhattan accused Trump, the first sitting or former US president to face criminal charges, of trying to conceal a violation of election laws during his successful 2016 campaign. The two women in the case are adult film actor Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal.
      Trump pleaded not guilty to the charges. The frontrunner in the race for the Republican nomination in 2024, Trump was subdued, responding briefly when the judge asked him if he understood his rights. At one point, the judge put his hand to his ear as if to prompt an answer. Trump made no comment when he left court just under an hour later.
      Trump flew home to Florida where he addressed family, friends and supporters at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, delivering a litany of grievances against investigators, prosecutors and rival politicians. He falsely described the New York prosecution as election interference.
      Prosecutor Chris Conroy said: “The defendant Donald J Trump falsified New York business records in order to conceal an illegal conspiracy to undermine the integrity of the 2016 presidential election and other violations of election laws.” While falsifying business records in New York on its own is a misdemeanour punishable by no more than one year in prison, it is elevated to a felony punishable by up to four years when done to advance or conceal another crime, such as election law violations.
      Attorney general Alvin Bragg defended the charges in a press conference after the arraignment. “We today uphold our solemn responsibility to ensure that everyone stands equal before the law. No amount of money and no amount of power changes that enduring American principle,” Bragg said.
      “We’re going to fight it hard,” Todd Blanche, a lawyer for Trump, told reporters after the arraignment. He said that while Trump was frustrated, upset and angry about the charges, “ … he’s motivated. And it’s not going to stop him. And it’s not going to slow him down. And it’s exactly what he expected.”
      Justice Juan Merchan, the judge assigned to Trump’s case, did not impose a gag order but warned Trump to avoid making comments that were inflammatory or could cause civil unrest. Prosecutors said Trump made a series of social media posts, including one threatening “death and destruction” if he was charged. If convicted of any one of the 34 felony charges, Trump could face a maximum of four years in prison.
      The judge set the next hearing for 4 December. Legal experts said a trial may not even get under way for a year. An indictment or conviction will not legally prevent Trump from running for president.
      Trump’s mugshot was not taken, according to two law enforcement officials, though the Trump camp did create their own one to put on a T-shirt as part of a fundraising effort.
      In an opinion piece for the Guardian, Sidney Blumenthal, former senior adviser to President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, argues that every indictment will make Trump stronger:
      The indictment of Donald J Trump has not driven a wooden stake through his heart. He has risen, omnipresent and ominous again, overwhelming his rivals, their voices joined into his choir, like the singing January 6 prisoners, proclaiming the wickedness of his prosecution. As he enters the criminal courthouse to pose for his mugshot and to give his fingerprints, evangelicals venerate him as the adulterous King David or the martyred Christ.
      Trump does not have to raise his hand to signal to the House Republicans to echo his cry of “WITCH-HUNT”. He owns the House like he owns a hotel.
      …
      From the report of every new indictment to its reality, Republican radicalization will accelerate. Every concrete count will confirm every conspiracy theory. Every prosecution and trial, staggered over months and into the election year, from New York to Georgia to Washington, will be a shock driving Republicans further to Trump. Every Republican candidate running for every office will be compelled to declare as a matter of faith that Trump is being unjustly persecuted or be themselves branded traitors.
      Politico has painted a picture of the atmosphere at Mar-a-Lago, with a telling comment from former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.Allies, aides, club members and the press were packed into the gilded ballroom of Mar-a-Lago, waiting for former President Donald Trump to arrive… In the ballroom at the Florida estate, there was no sense of sobriety in the air. It felt, instead, like a Maga movie set.
      The room was lit up with bright spotlights for the cameras. And as the assembled guests waited for the man of the hour to arrive, the setting took on the feel of a catwalk for Trump world’s upper crust. Family, staff and top surrogates walked in smiling and waving.
      …
      Tuesday, in a way, was like a campaign relaunch, still grievance-filled but with Trump world feeling that they are in a better position. The polling that just months ago was used as evidence of his failure to rally the base has dramatically shifted, now showing the former president with leads upward of 20 percentage points over DeSantis. It underscored the central paradox of Trump’s political career: His standing benefits from the crises he endures.“We’re back to all Trump all the time,” said former House Speaker and past presidential candidate Newt Gingrich. “Nothing makes him happier.”Here’s a video report on Trump’s speech in Florida earlier, during which he delivered a litany of grievances against investigators, prosecutors and rival politicians. He falsely described the New York prosecution as election interference:I’m just cutting away from the indictment for a moment to the results in Wisconsin, where a Democratic-backed Milwaukee judge has won the high stakes supreme court Race, ensuring liberals will take over majority control of the court for the first time in 15 years with the fate of the state’s abortion ban pending.Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Janet Protasiewicz defeated former Justice Dan Kelly, who previously worked for Republicans and had support from the state’s leading anti-abortion groups.The new court controlled 4-3 by liberals is expected to decide a pending lawsuit challenging the state’s 1849 law banning abortion. Protasiewicz made the issue a focus of her campaign and won the support of Planned Parenthood and other abortion rights groups.Four of the past six presidential elections in Wisconsin have been decided by less than a percentage point. Trump turned to the courts in 2020 in his unsuccessful push to overturn his roughly 21,000-vote loss in the state.Protasiewicz, a Milwaukee County judge, largely focused her campaign around abortion, saying she supports abortion rights but stopping short of saying how she would rule on a pending lawsuit challenging Wisconsin’s 174-year-old ban that was enacted a year after statehood.With that, let’s take a look at the day’s newspaper front pages with my colleague Jonathan Yerushalmy.The Guardian says, “Trump pleads not guilty to 34 charges in hush-money case”, with the paper highlighting the judge’s order that the former president refrain from rhetoric that could cause civil unrest.Time magazine gained a reputation for producing iconic covers throughout the Trump presidency, and they hit the mark again on Wednesday, with the simple headline: “Unprecedented”.The Times splashes with, “Trump in the dock”. The paper’s US correspondents describe how a “stony-faced Trump was released from custody after an hour-long arraignment hearing ahead of a trial likely to take place next year”.“Trump in the eye of the Stormy”, is the Mirror’s headline. The paper goes on to say that, “Finally… ex-President charged over ‘hush-money’ payments to porn star”.You can read the full roundup here:So, how was Trump’s arraignment covered in the US media – and have any lessons been learned since 2016? The AP’s David Bauder has taken a look:“It’s hard to over-dramatize what this means for Donald Trump,” MSNBC’s Chris Jansing said today.
      Oh, but many tried.
      Hour after hour today, the story occupied the full attention of broadcast and cable news networks. They waited for glimpses of Trump’s face to interpret his expression, followed his motorcade’s movements from the air, speculated on how it must feel to be arrested.
      On Monday, Trump’s travels from Florida to New York led cable news networks to revisit the worst of earlier excesses. Throughout the day, aerial camera shots followed Trump’s plane as it took off from Florida and landed in New York, and as his motorcade traveled to Trump Tower in Manhattan – the backdrop to hours of speculation about the case.
      At one point, Trump’s son Eric posted on social media a picture of a television set inside the plane showing a Fox News Channel picture of the plane waiting on a Florida tarmac. “Watching the plane … from the plane,” he said.
      New York state supreme court Judge Juan Merchan declined media requests for video coverage of the hearing where Trump heard the charges against him and pleaded not guilty. That led to constant, mostly empty talk about what might happen.
      Will Trump’s motorcade to the court take Fifth Avenue or the FDR Drive? (The latter.) Will a mug shot of Trump be taken and released? (No.) Would the former president speak to the media before he goes into the court? (No.) After the hearing is done? (Also no.)
      His walk out the door was judged “five seconds of history” by ABC’s David Muir. Those views of Trump, along with still pictures of him during the arraignment, turned political and legal commentators into facial-expression and body-language experts.Mitt Romney, the former presidential nominee, who as a Utah senator was the only Republican to vote to convict Trump in both his impeachment trials, has criticised the Manhattan district attorney’s office for its handling of the hush money case in which the former president pleaded not guilty on Tuesday.“I believe President Trump’s character and conduct make him unfit for office,” Romney said in a statement, as Trump was arraigned.“Even so, I believe the New York prosecutor has stretched to reach felony criminal charges in order to fit a political agenda.”“No one is above the law, not even former presidents, but everyone is entitled to equal treatment under the law. The prosecutor’s overreach sets a dangerous precedent for criminalizing political opponents and damages the public’s faith in our justice system.”There are thorny legal issues raised by Trump’s indictment.“The bottom line is that it’s murky,” Richard Hasen, an expert in election law and professor at the University of California, Los Angeles law school told the Associated Press. “And the district attorney did not offer a detailed legal analysis as to how they can do this, how they can get around these potential hurdles. And it could potentially tie up the case for a long time.”“There are an awful lot of dots here which it takes a bit of imagination to connect,” said Richard Klein, a Touro Law Center criminal law professor. Bragg said the indictment doesn’t specify the potential underlying crimes because the law doesn’t require it. But given the likelihood of Trump’s lawyers challenging it, “you’d think they’d want to be on much firmer ground than some of this stuff,” said Klein, a former New York City public defender.Hasen said it’s not clear whether candidates for federal office can be prosecuted in cases involving state election laws. The defense may also argue the case can’t be brought in state court if it involves a federal election law.While the prosecution’s theory is certainly unusual, it’s not unwinnable, some experts said.Bragg is “going to bring in witnesses, he’s going to show a lot of documentary evidence to attempt to demonstrate that all these payments were in furtherance of the presidential campaign,” said Jerry H.​ Goldfeder, a veteran election lawyer in New York and the director of Fordham Law School’s Voting Rights and Democracy Project.“It remains to be seen if he can prove it beyond a reasonable doubt,” Goldfeder said. But, he added, “Do not underestimate District Attorney Alvin Bragg and do not overestimate Mr. Trump.”On Fox, Laura Ingraham is running a segment on the decision by MSNBC to not broadcast Trump’s remarks in Florida.They’re embarrassed by the “flimsy” indictment and knew Trump would “use his comments to tell the truth,” she says.Hi, my name is Helen Sullivan and I’m taking over our live coverage of this historic day from my formidable colleague Maanvi Singh.If you have questions, comments, or would like to get in touch you can find me on Twitter.After Donald Trump surrendered to authorities and New York and pleaded not guilty to 34 charges of falsifying business records, he delivered a brief, grievance-laden speech from his his Florida residence.
      Trump became the first American president to face criminal charges. Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg said the ex-president faces 34 felony counts of falsifying documents “with intent to defraud and intent to conceal another crime” adding that “these are felony crimes in New York state, no matter who you are”.
      Trump’s court appearance, during which he was finger-printed, but not cuffed, came five days after a New York grand jury voted to indict him, based on a years-long investigation.
      The charges are focused on payments Trump made to hide an affair with adult film star Stormy Daniels, as well as hush money deals with Playboy model Karen McDougal and a former Trump Tower doorman. The district attorney’s office has accused Trump of having “orchestrated a scheme” with the intent “to influence the 2016 presidential election by identifying and purchasing negative information about him to suppress its publication and benefit the defendant’s electoral prospects”.
      Separately, Trump faces a criminal investigation into his role during the January 6 insurrection and his retention of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago after leaving office. He is also facing an investigation into efforts to overturn the elections in Georgia. The New York state attorney general has sued Trump, his family, and the Trump Organization over financial wrong doing. He is also facing a defamation suit arising from allegations of rape.
      In a rambling speech, Trump collapsed long-held grievances with complaints about the several investigations he is facing, focused especially on the classified documents case. He repeated falsehoods about the nature of the accusations he is facing, and personally attacked the prosecutors and investigators leading the cases.
      The president only spoke for about 25 minutes – which was much shorter than his standard. But otherwise, the remarks had many elements of his standard rally stump speech.I’m signing off, but my colleagues in Australia will continue to bring you updates and analysis.
      – Maanvi SinghFact check: Judge in hush money caseTrump called justice Juan Merchan a “Trump-hating judge with a Trump-hating wife whose daughter worked for Kamala Harris”.Merchan’s daughter is president of Authentic, an agency that has worked with the campaigns of Joe Biden, Kamala Harris , Cory Booker and other Democrats. But that is not a conflict of interest for the justice, or grounds for a recusal by judicial ethics standards.Fact check: Classified documentsDuring the speech, Trump also claimed that the Presidential Records Act involves a negotiation with the National Archives and Records Administration over documents, which is false. In fact, Nara gets custody of presidential documents the moment he leaves office.Trump was joined tonight by his children Don Jr, Eric and Tiffany, as well as supporters including Roger Stone, Mike Lindell, far-right representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz, and former Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake.Missing tonight were Trump’s eldest daughter Ivanka Trump, who has distanced herself from her father after working for his administration, and Melania Trump.CNN cut away from its live coverage of Trump’s speech as the former president continued to rail against the charges against him.Meanwhile, MSNBC opted not to broadcast Trump’s remarks at all. Instead, host Rachel Maddow said the outlet would monitor his remarks for any news rather than cover them in full.“This is basically a campaign speech in which he is repeating his same lies and allegations against his perceived enemies,” Maddow said. “He’s just giving his normal list of grievances. We don’t consider that necessarily newsworthy and there is a cost to us as a news organization of knowingly broadcasting untrue things.”NPR also did not air Trump’s speech live.Donald Trump has repeatedly misconstrued the investigation into his possession of classified documents, comparing what he did to what his predecessors did.Trump took classified documents to Mar-a-Lago, whereas former president Barack Obama turned over documents, according to the National Archives and Records Administration itself. In the cases of other former presidents, the Nara moved documents out of DC to other facilities. More

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      Donald Trump pleads not guilty to 34 felony charges in hush money case

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      Donald Trump on Tuesday pleaded not guilty to 34 felony charges of falsifying business records and conspiracy related to his role in hush money payments to cover up an alleged extramarital affair in the final days of the 2016 presidential election, an unprecedented development that marks the first time in American history a former president has been charged with a crime.Trump, the 45th commander in chief and the leading contender for the Republican nomination in 2024, was stone-faced as he entered the courtroom in lower Manhattan on Tuesday afternoon, after surrendering to authorities in the city where he was born, built his career and launched his bid for the presidency.Trump described the moment as “SURREAL,” as his 11-vehicle motorcade made the journey from his penthouse on Fifth Ave to the district attorney’s office downtown. Upon his arrival, Trump, escorted by a phalanx of US Secret Service agents, waved to the crush of supporters, reporters and onlookers gathered near the criminal courts building.While he was in custody, Trump, like any other criminal defendant, was fingerprinted. But given the extraordinary nature of the proceedings, he was also afforded special accommodations: he was not handcuffed and was not subject to a mug shot.In his appearance before New York supreme court justice Juan Merchan, Trump himself entered the plea of not guilty, part of an effort to project an air of defiance, people close to him said. But seated between his lawyers at the defense table, Trump appeared affected by the gravity of the moment, which amounted to a legal reckoning for the reality TV star-turned-president after nearly half a century of avoiding criminal charges.According to the charging document, unsealed on Tuesday, prosecutors accused the former president of paying $130,000 to buy the silence of adult film star Stormy Daniels, who said she had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006. The payment was made by his then lawyer Michael Cohen, who said he was acting at the direction of Trump. Trump later reimbursed Cohen while serving as president of the United States.New York prosecutors allege that Trump violated state records law because it was falsely recorded as legal expenses, which also meant Trump avoided paying tax on the money.The prosecutors doubled down on the timing of Trump’s actions, which they said could have undermined his campaign during the 2016 election. And they asked for protective orders for discovery materials, including Trump’s escalatory posts on his platform Truth Social, such as when he vowed “death and destruction” in the event he was indicted.The arraignment marks a politically and legally perilous moment for Trump, and also for the country, which has never before been confronted with the extraordinary situation of a twice-impeached, criminally charged former president now running for re-election to the White House.The intense public interest in the case was underscored on Tuesday by dueling but peaceful demonstrations swelled on separate sides of a park near the courthouse. Metal barricades divided Trump’s supporters from his opponents, a stark visual of a nation still deeply divided over his presidency and his political future. While a conviction is far from certain, it would not preclude Trump from running or winning the presidency in 2024.The New York case is just one of an array of legal threats confronting the former president, who faces criminal investigations over the January 6 Capitol attack, his retention of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago and his efforts to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia, as well as civil inquiries into his business and a defamation suit arising from allegations of rape.Trump and his campaign sees political opportunity in his legal jeopardy, as his supporters rallied to his defense, with signs and Maga-wear, in a show of fealty to a man many believe is the victim of a political witch hunt. It is a narrative Trump and his campaign have advanced in the days since he was indicted, using claims of a “witch hunt” to drive fundraising and pressure his likely Republican rivals to defend him. Prosecutors have said politics played no role in the decision to pursue this case.President Joe Biden, who has yet to formally announce that he’s seeking re-election next year, has declined to comment on the case. “This is not his focus for today,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Tuesday. More