Former President Donald Trump arrived in New York City Monday, a day before he is expected to turn himself in to law enforcement and face more than 30 criminal charges in a Manhattan court following last week’s historic grand jury indictment.
Trump’s legal team said the former president will voluntarily surrender and will look to challenge “every potential issue” once the indictment is unsealed.
Trump, who has vowed to continue his 2024 bid, is the first current or former president in US history who has faced criminal charges. The district attorney’s office has been investigating Trump’s alleged role in a hush money payment scheme involving adult film star Stormy Daniels that dates to the 2016 presidential election.
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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 organizations’ interests in providing the broadest possible access to the proceedings must be weighed against “competing interests.”
In rejecting the request to broadcast the arraignment live on television, Merchan still wrote about the historical significance of the proceeding in stark terms.
News outlets will not be allowed to broadcast former President Donald Trump’s arraignment on Tuesday in a New York state court, a judge said Monday night, but he will allow some photographers to take pictures in the courtroom before the proceedings formally begin.
Acting New York Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan rejected the request by several media organizations, including CNN, for permission to broadcast the historic proceedings. Trump’s arraignment — like most arraignments in the Manhattan courthouse — is a public proceeding, but news cameras are not usually allowed to broadcast from inside the courtroom.
However, the judge is allowing five pool photographers to take still photos at the beginning of the proceedings “until such time as they are directed to vacate the jury box by court personnel.”
Earlier on Monday, Trump’s lawyers urged the judge to reject the media’s request for live cameras in the courtroom. The Manhattan District Attorney’s office told the judge they didn’t have a position.
The media outlets that tried to get cameras into the courtroom argued that “the gravity of this proceeding … and, consequently, the need for the broadest possible public access, cannot be overstated.”
The arraignment is also expected to bring the unsealing of the criminal charges against Trump, which have not yet been seen by his lawyers or the public.
The indictment stems from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation into hush-money payments, made during the 2016 presidential campaign, to women who claimed they had extramarital affairs with Trump, which he denies.
Trump denies all wrongdoing and his lawyers said last week that they’ll fight to get the charges dropped.
Donald Trump is not planning to speak publicly in New York on Tuesday, aides say, if he follows advice from members of his legal team who have urged the former President to refrain from the vitriol he’s been directing toward the prosecutor and judge presiding over the case.
But that restraint does not extend to Florida, aides said, where he is planning to deliver a full-throated defense of his New York case as well as other investigations he is facing during a prime time address from Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday night.
It’s the first test to see whether Trump can navigate two vasty different approaches to his legal case and his political campaign, which are now inextricably linked.
Alina Habba, who represents Donald Trump in several civil matters, spent time with the former president in New York today and said, “He’s in good spirits. Honestly, he’s as he normally would be. He’s ready to go in and do what he needs to do tomorrow.”
Habba — appearing on on Fox News’ “Jesse Watters” — was asked about the “game plan” for Trump’s appearance in court in Manhattan Tuesday and said, “It’s all mapped out.”
She added, “Barring any surprises, I think that it should be smooth. We’re trying to coordinate and cooperate with everybody to make sure that there are no problems.”
On whether Trump can get a fair trial in Manhattan, Habba said, “No, no. I think it’s very difficult. I’d like to have faith in this state, but I’ve been practicing for him now for a couple years and gone to court in New York for a few years, and I can tell you, it’s not the same as representing anybody else.”
Former President Donald Trump met with his attorneys Susan Necheles and Joe Tacopina at Trump Tower after arriving in New York City Monday, a source familiar with the meeting told CNN.
It is unclear if the newest addition to Trump’s New York legal team, Todd Blanche, attended the meeting.
Trump is expected to be arraigned Tuesday.
Former President Donald Trump has landed in New York’s La Guardia Airport ahead of his expected Tuesday arraignment in a Manhattan courthouse.
History was made Thursday when he was indicted by a New York grand jury. It’s the first time that a current or former US president has been criminally charged.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office has been investigating Trump’s alleged role in a hush money payment scheme and cover-up involving adult film star Stormy Daniels that dates to the 2016 presidential campaign.
Trump’s attorney said he plans to file “substantial” legal challenges. The former president has repeatedly denied wrongdoing in the matter and accused Democrats of targeting him politically.
A small group of supporters chanted as former President Donald Trump arrived at his namesake tower on Monday afternoon, with a handful of people waving banners with messages like “Trump won” and “Arrest Biden.”
While Trump couldn’t see his admirers as he entered a side door on 56th Street, his arrival came with more fanfare and security than at any other time in his post presidency.
Now that he is inside the building — where he launched his presidential bid nearly eight years ago — Trump is expected to meet with lawyers and political advisers on the eve of his arraignment, an aide told CNN.
Trump’s mood was described by an adviser as “defiant and focused,” as he watched expansive television coverage while flying back to his native New York City from Florida.
Special counsel prosecutors have secured evidence including daily notes, texts, emails and photographs and are focused on cataloging how Donald Trump handled classified records around the Mar-a-Lago resort and those who may have witnessed the former president with them, according to multiple sources familiar with the investigation.
The new details come amid signs the Justice Department is taking steps that are typically near the end of an investigation.
The recent investigative activity before a federal grand jury in Washington, DC, also includes subpoenaing witnesses in March and April who had previously spoken to investigators, the sources said. While the FBI interviewed many aides and workers at Mar-a-Lago nearly a year ago voluntarily, grand jury appearances are transcribed and under oath — an indication the prosecutors are locking in witness testimony.
The focus of both the mishandling of records and obstruction of justice probes has remained on the actions of the former president, the sources say. That includes prosecutors pursuing evidence of Trump’s intent to keep classified records after he left the White House, plus his knowledge that the records remained in his possession after the Justice Department demanded their return last May.
Witnesses are being questioned about what they saw in Trump’s private residential and work areas within the club, some of the sources said.
Former President Donald Trump has arrived at his midtown Manhattan property Trump Tower.
He will stay at Trump Tower tonight and is expected to depart New York immediately after Tuesday’s arraignment to head back to Florida — where he plans to deliver remarks at his Mar-a-lago home.
President Joe Biden told CNN’s Betsy Klein he isn’t worried about unrest due to former President Donald Trump’s criminal indictment in New York.
“No, I have faith in the New York Police Department,” Biden said on Monday during a tour of a power generation facility in Fridley, Minnesota.
Asked if he had faith in the legal system, Biden replied: “Yes.”
As former President Donald Trump walked down from his plane at La Guardia Airport on the eve of his arraignment, CNN’s Gloria Borger noted the unique situation he’s in.
Trump is “one of the most famous people in the world, and he is a former president, presidential candidate, and now he’s a defendant. We haven’t seen that. It’s hard to kind of process that,” Borger said to CNN’s Dana Bash.
Borger also highlighted how Trump’s day in court is something he’s avoided for decades and that it will be a grievance he uses to rile up his supporters.
CNN’s Audie Cornish noted how Trump ending up in court seemed unavoidable given the “sheer number of investigations against him.”
Acting New York Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan said he’ll likely issue a decision tonight on whether media outlets can broadcast former President Donald Trump’s arraignment on Tuesday.
CNN is part of the media coalition that asked the judge for permission to broadcast the hearing.
More on this: Trump’s attorneys said in their letter to Merchan that he is required under court rules to take into account potential security concerns.
“As Your Honor is well-aware, this case presents extraordinary security concerns (including Secret Service-related concerns) and we submit that any video or photography of the proceedings will only heighten these serious concerns,” they wrote.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s office also responded Monday to the news outlets’ request and said that it was deferring to the judge to make a decision on how best to manage his courtroom.
Donald Trump — the first former president in history to face criminal charges — has arrived in New York for an expected arraignment on Tuesday after being indicted last week by a Manhattan grand jury.
The former president will stay at Trump Tower tonight, according to a source familiar with his plans. But even before Trump’s appearance, his presence will be felt in the Manhattan courthouse Tuesday, as all trials and most other court activity is being halted before he is slated to arrive.
The Secret Service is scheduled to accompany Trump in the early afternoon to the district attorney’s office, which is in the same building as the courthouse.
Trump will be booked by the investigators, which includes taking his fingerprints. Ordinarily, a mug shot would be taken. But sources familiar with the preparations were uncertain as to whether there would be a mugshot – because Trump’s appearance is widely known and authorities were concerned about the improper leaking of the photo, which would be a violation of state law.
Typically, after defendants are arrested, they are booked and held in cells near the courtroom before they are arraigned. But that won’t happen with Trump. Once the former president is finished being processed, he’ll be taken through a back set of hallways and elevators to the floor where the courtroom is located. He’ll then come out to a public hallway to walk into the courtroom.
Trump is not expected to be handcuffed, as he will be surrounded by armed federal agents for his protection.
By the afternoon, Trump is expected to be brought to the courtroom, where the indictment will be unsealed and he will formally face the charges. After he is arraigned, Trump will almost certainly be released on his own recognizance. It is possible, though perhaps unlikely, that conditions could be set on his travel.
Ordinarily, a defendant who is released would walk out the front doors, but Secret Service will want to limit the time and space where Trump is in public. So instead, once the court hearing is over, Trump is expected to walk again through the public hallway and into the back corridors to the district attorney’s office, back to where his motorcade will be waiting.
Then he’ll head to the airport so he can get back to Mar-a-Lago, where he’s scheduled an event that evening to speak publicly.
CNN’s John Miller, Jeremy Herb, Katelyn Polantz, Tierney Sneed, Sydney Kashiwagi, Kristen Holmes, Holmes Lybrand, Hannah Rabinowitz, Paula Reid, Alayna Treene, Gregory Clary and Devan Cole contributed reporting to this post.
Former President Donald Trump has landed in New York’s La Guardia Airport ahead of his expected Tuesday arraignment in a Manhattan courthouse.
The former president touched down shortly after 3:25 p.m. ET.
Trump faces more than 30 counts related to business fraud, CNN has reported, but the indictment remains under seal. He is the first current or former president to face criminal charges in American history.
He will spend Monday night at the Trump Tower, according to a source familiar with his plans.
The Secret Service is scheduled to accompany Trump in the early afternoon Tuesday to the district attorney’s office, which is in the same building as the courthouse, where he is expected to be arraigned.
The former president is expected to return to Florida shortly after his court appearance and has scheduled an event that evening to speak publicly.
Lawyers for former President Donald Trump told a New York judge on Monday that they oppose the request by media outlets to broadcast Trump’s arraignment on Tuesday.
Trump’s attorneys said in their letter to Acting New York Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan that he is required under court rules to take into account potential security concerns.
“As Your Honor is well-aware, this case presents extraordinary security concerns (including Secret Service-related concerns) and we submit that any video or photography of the proceedings will only heighten these serious concerns,” they wrote.
Among the Trump lawyers signing the new letter was Todd Blanche, who, CNN reported, recently joined the former president’s legal team.
Meanwhile, the Manhattan District Attorney’s office also responded Monday to the news outlets’ request, and said that it was deferring to the judge to decide how best to manage his court room.
However, the district attorney’s office wrote that it would “be a defensible exercise of the Court’s discretion to exclude or restrict videography, photography, and radio coverage of the arraignment in the interest of avoiding potential prejudice to the defendant, maintaining an orderly proceeding, assuring the safety of the participants in the proceeding, or for other reasons within the Court’s broad authority to manage and control these proceedings.”
But the prosecutors also noted that there “does not appear to be a categorical prohibition on cameras during an arraignment” under existing New York statutes and case law.
While the district attorney’s office stopped short of opposing the request, its lawyer pointed out to Merchan that a similar request for audio-video broadcasting was made for the 2021 arraignment in the tax fraud case against Trump Organization and its CFO Allen Weisselberg.
The judge responded to that 2021 request by “allowing a limited number of still photographs to be taken prior to the commencement of proceedings,” the prosecutors noted Monday.
CNN is one of the outlets requesting camera access for Tuesday’s arraignment.
Former President Donald Trump has hired a new attorney to serve as lead counsel in his defense against charges brought by the Manhattan district attorney’s office, multiple sources tell CNN.
Trump has hired Todd Blanche, who was most recently a partner at law firm Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft. Blanche has previously represented Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and Igor Fruman, a former associate of Rudy Giuliani who was also a key figure in Trump’s first impeachment trial. Politico was first to report the news of Blanche’s hiring.
Blanche’s hiring has been seen by some inside Trump’s orbit as a sidelining of Tacopina, who up until this point has been one of the most forward-facing attorney’s dealing with Trump’s defense. However, a senior adviser to Trump pushed back on that characterization and said the addition of Blanche was intended to add more legal firepower to Trump’s defense.
When pressed by CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on Friday if Tacopina was the right lawyer in New York to take Trump to trial, another lawyer representing the former president, Tim Parlatore, pointed to a potential conflict of interest.
“I know that Joe has certain potential conflict issues, given his prior contacts, with Stormy Daniels. So, who’s the right attorney, to take it to trial, is something that the client will have to decide. Ultimately, the decision of who to stand next to, before a jury, is a decision that only the client can make,” Parlatore said.
Asked by CNN’s Paula Reid if he is still on the case and whether he will be in court tomorrow, Tacopina said: “Yes of course ! And I will be the lead trial lawyer when the bell rings!”
CNN’s Paula Reid contributed reporting to this post.
Senate Homeland Security Chairman Gary Peters said he has not seen any indication that protests in Washington, DC, over former President Donald Trump’s indictment will become dangerous.
Peters, who is also a member of Senate Democrat leadership, said it is unclear what effect the indictment will have on the Senate. “We don’t know what’s gonna transpire tomorrow, let alone what’s going to happen in the few weeks and months. I think we’d have to take a look at what the indictment is all about.”
Former President Donald Trump has departed Florida and is en route to New York to face criminal charges.
His personalized Boeing 757 took off from the Palm Beach International Airport this afternoon at about 12:59 p.m. ET ahead of his Tuesday appearance in a Manhattan courtroom to be arraigned.
Trump, the first current or former president to face criminal charges in American history, is expected to land at New York’s LaGuardia airport around 3 p.m. ET, according to a source familiar with his plans. He will stay at Trump Tower tonight, the source told CNN.
Trump faces more than 30 counts related to business fraud, according to two sources familiar with the case. A New York grand jury handed down the sealed indictment late last week. The charges have yet to be made public.
The former president is not expected to stay in New York City for very long. Immediately after his Tuesday court appearance, Trump plans to return to Florida, the source said, where he has scheduled an event to speak publicly.
Track Trump’s plane from Florida to New York here.
CNN’s Alta D. Spells and Jack Forrest contributed reporting to this post.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams warned GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene to “be on your best behavior” after the Republican firebrand said she will travel to the city to protest former President Donald Trump’s indictment.
Adams made the statement at a press conference as New York security officials detailed plans ahead of Trump’s arrival in Manhattan for his arraignment scheduled on Tuesday.
“As always, we will not allow violence or vandalism of any kind. And if one is caught participating in any act of violence, they will be arrested and held accountable. No matter who you are,” he added.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams began his Monday news conference by reiterating that there have been “no specific credible threats” to the city in connection with former President Donald Trump’s travel to NYC for his arraignment.
He encouraged all New Yorkers to “go on with their regular activities,” while noting that commuters and other people traveling about the city may experience “some disruptions” due to additional traffic and street closers near the courts in lower Manhattan.
Adams issued a warning to any “rabble rousers” considering coming to New York because of Trump, saying his message is “is clear and simple: control yourselves.”
“New York City is our home, not a playground for your misplaced anger. We have the safest large city in America because we respect the rule of law in New York City,” Adams said.
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