4th April, 2023
Former US President, Donald Trump was arraigned before a Manhattan criminal court on Tuesday after he was indicted by the Grand Jury.
On arraignment in court on Tuesday, he was slammed with 34 counts of criminal charges to which he pleaded guilty.
Trump had surrendered himself shortly before he was arraigned on getting to the Manhattan Courthouse. He was subsequently placed under arrest by the police.
He has thus, become the first former US president to be indicted and arraigned in court in history.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr. announced his indictment for falsifying New York business records in order to conceal damaging information and unlawful activity from American voters before and after the 2016 election.
A statement from Bragg said during the election, Trump and others employed a “catch and kill” scheme to identify, purchase, and bury negative information about him and boost his electoral prospects.
He said Trump then went to great lengths to hide this conduct, causing dozens of false entries in business records to conceal criminal activity, including attempts to violate state and federal election laws.
TRUMP is charged in a New York State Supreme Court indictment with 34 counts of Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree.
“The People of the State of New York allege that Donald J. Trump repeatedly and fraudulently falsified New York business records to conceal crimes that hid damaging information from the voting public during the 2016 presidential election,” said District Attorney Bragg.
Read full statement of the 34 counts here.