Former President and Republican 2024 presidential nominee Donald Trump has arrived in New York ahead of his Tuesday appearance before the Manhattan court for arraignment in connection with the hush money case.
Trump, the first ex-US president to face a criminal case, was indicted on charges relating to paying porn actress Stormy Daniels in 2016, just before the 2016 Presidential elections.
His private Boeing 757 emblazoned with his name on the fuselage landed at LaGuardia Airport after a two-and-a-half-hour flight from Florida on Monday, a day before his surrender. His arrival was captured live by American television. The former president, clad in a blue suit and wearing a red tie, left the airport to Trump Tower in Manhattan in an SUV.
Though his supporters lined the street and outside the Trump Towers, the former president did not make any public comments.
Security has been tightened up as authorities expect protests by Trump supporters outside the Manhattan court. The New York police have already put up barricades along the edge of the sidewalks around Trump Tower and the Manhattan Criminal Court building downtown ahead of his surrender. "Officers have been placed on alert and the department remains ready to respond as needed and will ensure everyone is able to peacefully exercise their rights," the New York Police Department said in a statement.
Dozens of police and court officers and Secret Service agents are also likely to escort Trump through the streets of New York to the Lower Manhattan court complex on Tuesday.
A lone Trump supporter stands in front of Manhattan Criminal Courthouse on April 03, 2023 in New York City |AFP
Meanwhile, Trump also held discussions with his attorneys Susan Necheles and Joe Tacopina at Trump Tower after arriving in New York City. He has also hired a new lawyer Todd Blanche before the arraignment. Blanche is a prominent white-collar criminal defence lawyer and former federal prosecutor who earlier represented Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort.
Indictment
The charges he faces will be disclosed in full at the hearing and Trump's lawyers have already said he will plead not guilty. The arraignment proceeding is expected to be brief. The charges in the indictment will be read to him at the hearing, which is set to last about 10-15 minutes.
Despite the wide public interest in his indictment, Trump's arraignment will not be broadcast. Acting New York Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan wrote his Monday night order that the media’s request to broadcast the arraignment of former President Donald Trump "was understandable, but that the news organisations’ interests in providing the broadest possible access to the proceedings must be weighed against competing interests."
However, some pool still photographers will be allowed to take pictures for several minutes before the arraignment formally starts.
Trump's lawyers opposed media coverage of the arraignment citing that it would "exacerbate an already almost circus-like atmosphere around this case", detracting from dignity and decorum.
Meanwhile, Trump and his aides are using the indictment to rile up his supporters and bolster his 2024 re-election campaign.
"It's hard to believe that I will be ARRESTED tomorrow as a result of the most disgraceful witch hunt in our nation's history," a Trump Campaign mail titled Tomorrow, I will be arrested' said, as it urged voters to contribute to his campaign.
Trump's team said they raised over USD 4 million in the 24 hours following Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's "unprecedented political persecution of the President, and blatant interference in the 2024 election against the leading Republican presidential candidate."
