LIVE. Trump pleads not guilty to 34 charges of fraudulent payment of hush money to two women | InstagramHLN

The case concerns the payment of hush money to porn actress Stormy Daniels. It may violate campaign finance rules. Trump, meanwhile, has already acknowledged that he paid back his former counsel Michael Cohen that hush money, but insists that transaction was not illegal.

US media know that prosecutor Alvin Bragg has prepared an indictment of about thirty counts against Trump. The exact details will not become clear until the indictment is read out. It is scheduled for 2:15 p.m. local time (8:15 p.m. Belgian time) at the Manhattan Courthouse.

Beforehand, Trump will be briefly arrested so that fingerprints and possibly police photos can be taken of him. If the latter actually happens, they will mug shots may not be released. Defendants are often also handcuffed. Whether that will happen in Trump’s case is unclear.

No television cameras are allowed in the courtroom during the reading of the indictment against former US President Donald Trump. Judge Juan Merchan rejected a request from various media on Monday. Five photographers are allowed in the courtroom to take pictures before the start of the hearing.

Trump’s lawyers had resisted the television cameras. The judge follows them in this. According to him, the interests of the news organizations to gain the widest possible access must be weighed against opposing interests, even though this is a historic procedure, Merchan acknowledged.

In the US, television cameras are generally not allowed inside a courtroom, according to CNN, which also filed a request.

On his own social medium Truth Social, Trump complains about the location. The Republican party only got 1 percent of the vote in some areas of Manhattan, so it’s “a partisan environment.”

Staten Island is generally more conservative. In 2020, Trump won 57 percent of the vote in that district. There would therefore be a greater chance that Trump supporters would end up on the jury.

Trump also targets Judge Juan Merchan, whom he calls “biased.” He previously convicted The Trump Organization of fraud and imposed fines. Trump says that trial and the current case are part of a “witch hunt” against him, intent on boycotting his participation in the next presidential election.

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