Former President Donald Trump has left the Manhattan courtroom Tuesday afternoon after pleading not guilty to 34 counts charge, including felony charges of falsifying business records.
He had appeared in a Manhattan court after surrendering to police to face an unprecedented indictment for the first time on Tuesday.
The charges were handed down by a grand jury convened by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Bragg’s office has been investigating the circumstances surrounding a payment made on Trump’s behalf to an adult film star in 2016 in exchange for her silence about an alleged affair, which Trump has denied.
Trump’s Secret Service motorcade left the court premises at about 3.30pm
Trump is the first former president in U.S. history to be charged with a crime, and the case could have serious ramifications for his ongoing bid for the White House race as it unfolds over the coming months. He has maintained his innocence and denounced the Manhattan district attorney’s probe as a politically motivated “witch hunt.”
The former president is expected to return home in Florida, where he is set to deliver remarks to supporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Tuesday evening.
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