Donald Trump, the ex-president and front-runner for the Republican nomination in 2024, will appear in court on Tuesday to be fingerprinted, photographed and formally charged in a watershed moment ahead of next year’s presidential election.
Indicted last week, Trump is the first sitting or former president to face criminal charges, over a case involving a 2016 hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels. He has said he is innocent and is due to plead not guilty.
Trump, 76, will turn himself in on Tuesday amid tight security and street protests.
“We have to take back our Country and, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” Trump wrote on social media shortly after arriving in New York from Florida on Monday.
The specific charges reached by a grand jury are due to be disclosed on Tuesday. Yahoo News late on Monday said Trump would face 34 felony counts for falsification of business records. Any trial is at least more than a year away, legal experts said.
Judge Juan Merchan late on Monday ruled that five photographers will be admitted before the arraignment starts to take pictures for several minutes. Trump’s lawyers had urged him to keep them out, arguing they would worsen “an already almost circus-like atmosphere.”
The District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat, who led the investigation, will give a news conference afterwards. Trump and his allies have portrayed the case as politically motivated.
Trump will return to Florida and deliver remarks from his Mar-a-Lago resort at 8:15 p.m. on Tuesday (0015 GMT on Wednesday), his office said.
PROTESTS AND POPULARITY
Mayor Eric Adams warned potential rabble-rousers to behave.“Our message is clear and simple: Control yourselves. New York City is our home, not a playground for your misplaced anger,” he told reporters.
President Joe Biden, a Democrat who is widely expected to seek re-election and face a potential rematch against Trump, said he had faith in the New York police.
The case has divided people in New York, where Trump’s name is emblazoned on buildings related to his business ventures.
Susan Miller, leaning against the metal barriers on 5th Avenue just south of Trump Tower on Monday evening, said she hoped the show of support would “give him a little strength.”
“He’s honest as the day is long,” she said.
Trump’s lead has widened over rivals in the Republican Party’s presidential nominating contest, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Monday, conducted after news broke that he would face criminal charges.
