(Updated throughout with additional material and statements)
by Karen Freifeld and Jody Godoy
NEW YORK, 4 avril (Reuters) –
Donald Trump pleaded not guilty in a New York court on Tuesday to 34 charges against him for falsifying records, with prosecutors accusing the former US president of violating election laws by paying two women for their silence on sex with him.
This is a historic day in the United States where no president, in office or not, had until then been the subject of a criminal indictment.
Donald Trump, declared candidate for the presidential election of 2024 and current favorite in the race for the nomination of the Republican Party, denounces political maneuvers. He has assured in the past that he will continue his campaign even if charged, as the law authorizes.
Released following a hearing in a Manhattan court, the indictment alleges that Donald Trump and others violated election laws by conspiring to prevent the publication of negative information about the former TV host. television during the 2016 campaign.
Prosecutors investigated primarily payments to former adult film actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy magazine model Karen McDougal.
Dressed in a dark blue suit and a red tie, Donald Trump showed little expression on Tuesday before entering the court, soberly waving to the crowd, while hundreds of supporters and detractors of the former president had gathered near the entrance to the building.
“Not guilty,” he replied during the hearing when asked how he was pleading. He remained silent in front of the journalists when he arrived in court and then left the building, about an hour later.
Todd Blanche, one of Donald Trump’s lawyers, said after the hearing that his client was frustrated and angry. “But he’s motivated. And that’s not going to stop him. And that’s not going to slow him down. And that’s exactly what he expected.”
“SURREALIST”
The judge set the next hearing for December 4 and did not force the parties to remain silent on the case until then. Legal experts estimate that the trial could begin in more than a year.
Donald Trump planned to speak Tuesday evening when he returned to his Florida home in Mar-a-Lago, which he had left on Monday to join New York, the city where he grew up and built his real estate empire.
As he was escorted to court by a convoy of vehicles from Trump Tower, the former president described via his social network Truth the situation as “surreal”, saying he could not believe “this is happening in America”. .
Donald Trump faces a total sentence of more than 100 years in prison, with regard to the charges against him, even if it is likely that a possible conviction will lead to a much shorter prison sentence.
In Washington, the White House remained silent on the case. “The American people should feel reassured that, when there is a case like this, we simply do not comment,” said the spokeswoman for the American presidency, Karine Jean-Pierre, in front of reporters.
Among the evidence cited by prosecutors is an audio recording in which Donald Trump and his former personal lawyer Michael Cohen discuss ways to prevent his relationship with Stormy Daniels from being publicized.
Checks written by Donald Trump to reimburse his lawyer for money paid to Stormy Daniels were presented as payments for a “representation warrant”, prosecutors have said, accusing Trump of falsifying his company’s accounts for of fraud.
Michael Cohen has admitted in the past to coordinating with his client to make payments to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal. Donald Trump denied having sex with them, but admitted paying Cohen back.
Donald Trump, who announced in November that he was running for president next year to prevent Democrat Joe Biden, who won at his expense in 2020, from obtaining a second term, is the target of several other investigations, including a federal investigation into his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 ballot.
(Report Karen Freifeld and Jody Godoy, with Julia Harte, Tyler Clifford, Jonathan Allen, Jeenah Moon and David Dee Delgado, Nathan Layne, Doina Chiacu and Richard Cowan; French version Jean Terzian)
