Former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty Tuesday to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
The plea came during a brief arraignment in a lower Manhattan courtroom as Trump faced a grand jury indictment arising from a hush money payment to a porn actor during Trump's 2016 campaign.
Donald Trump conspired to undermine the 2016 election through a series of hush money payments designed to stifle claims that could be harmful to his candidacy, prosecutors said Tuesday in unsealing a historic 34-count felony indictment against the former president.
VIDEO: News conference from Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg:
Indictment unsealed
A silent and stone-faced Trump, his lips pursed in apparent anger, entered the courtroom shortly before 2:30 p.m. without saying anything. Minutes earlier, he narrated his feelings in real-time, describing the experience as “SURREAL” as he traveled from Trump Tower to lower Manhattan to face a judge as the first former president in American history to be criminally prosecuted.
Trump pumped his fist as he exited Trump Tower, then traveled in an eight-car motorcade down a highway along the East River to the downtown courthouse, where he surrendered to authorities.
Trump's arraignment was set after a Manhattan grand jury voted to indict the former president last week.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office has been investigating payments allegedly made by Trump and his former personal attorney Michael Cohen to porn star Stormy Daniels. She reportedly received payment from Trump through Cohen to remain quiet about their relationship in the lead-up to the 2016 election.
Trump has maintained his innocence throughout the investigation. In a statement on Thursday, Trump claimed the indictment is a "political prosecution."
A conviction would not prevent Trump from running for or winning the presidency in 2024.
After the arraignment, Trump was released by authorities because the charges against him don’t require that bail be set.
Trump is expected to deliver remarks Tuesday night in Florida after he leaves New York.
