Trump pleads not guilty to 34 criminal charges in New York
Shafaq News / Donald Trump, the former U.S. president and front-runner for the 2024 Republican nomination, pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records after an investigation into hush money paid to a porn star.
Wearing a dark blue suit and red tie, Trump, 76, exhibited little emotion on his face when he waved to a crowd assembled outside the courthouse after he was driven in a motorcade from his New York residence at Trump Tower.
Trump sat with his hands folded as he entered his plea flanked by his lawyers.
"Not guilty," Trump said when asked how he pleaded.
He is the first sitting or former U.S. president to face criminal charges.
Taken together, the charges carry a maximum sentence of 136 years in prison under New York law but an actual prison sentence if he is convicted at a trial would almost certainly be far less than that.
While falsifying business records in New York on its own is a misdemeanor punishable by no more than one year in prison, it is elevated to a felony punishable by up to four years in prison when done to advance or conceal another crime.
Trump, who has called the charges politically motivated, held his fist in the air in a gesture to reporters as he departed Trump Tower.
Looking somber, Trump said nothing as he walked past police and through a hallway in the courthouse before entering the courtroom for the arraignment proceeding. A photo taken by a photographer in the courtroom authorized by the judge showed Trump sitting at the defense table, flanked by his lawyers.
Trump was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury last week in a case stemming from a 2016 hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels, though the specific charges had yet to be disclosed.
(Reuters)
